Joint Statement by Chairmen Don Young and Jim Nussle
Announcing Highway Funding and Budget Enforcement Plan

Today House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young and House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle announced a multi-faceted agreement to address a highway shortfall in FY 2003; extend the discretionary spending caps; and insist that the House adopts the House-passed budget resolution, passed in March, as an interim spending blueprint.

Consistent with this agreement, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure marked up H.R. 3694, the Highway Funding Restoration Act, to address a shortfall in highway spending for FY 2003. The House-passed budget resolution already took steps to accommodate the additional funding by creating a Highway Reserve Fund that will provide an increased budget allocation to cover the cost of the $4.4 billion increase. H.R. 3694 takes the additional step of increasing the highway budget category and the guaranteed funding level by $4.4 billion as well. The bill will now be referred to the Budget Committee, which has jurisdiction over the caps.

"It is vital that these funds be available to the states to continue their on-going transportation projects," said Young. "This funding is necessary to combat our nation's congestion problems, improve highway safety, and protect jobs."

The two chairmen also agreed to aggressively work to ensure that the House adheres to the budgetary limits established in the budget resolution it passed in March. They will insist on quick House passage of a so-called "deeming" resolution. This is especially important since it is becoming increasingly likely that the Senate will not pass a budget, leaving Congress without an agreed-upon spending blueprint and a specific assurance that the states will receive funding through the widely supported highway formula enacted in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21).

"Without a budget resolution in place, the Congress will have little ability to control spending unless we adhere to the House-passed spending and revenue levels and extend the discretionary spending caps," Nussle said.

Finally, Chairmen Nussle and Young agreed to introduce legislation that will both extend the cap on general purpose discretionary spending, and PAY-AS-YOU-GO requirements through FY 2004; and will act in the short term to fix the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority (RABA) provision of TEA 21 to ensure greater funding stability.

The two chairmen agreed to defer action on a permanent RABA solution until TEA-21 is re-authorized next year. They also decided to address the extension of the highway and transit budget categories during reauthorization of TEA 21.

"I was happy to work with Chairman Young to ensure that the House budget resolution addressed the shortfall in the highway trust fund for next year," Nussle said. "However, if we want to avoid these large swings in highway funding in the future, it's imperative that we also revise RABA and the way it is annually calculated to ensure greater stability in highway funding."

"I thank Chairman Nussle and the Budget Committee for working with us on this issue, and for recognizing the value of the RABA principle," said Young. "The principle that highway spending should equal highway revenues is the cornerstone of TEA 21."