American Highway Users Alliance

The united voice of the transportation community on highway safety and mobility.

A nonprofit advocacy organization representing nearly 350 national trade associations, corporations, small businesses, and state and local nonprofit organizations that represent over 45 million highway users.

1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
202.857.1200       fax 202.857.1220
www.highways.org
© Copyright 2002

Keeping the Trust in the Highway Trust Fund

On September 19, Highway Users President and CEO Bill Fay presented testimony at a House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee hearing on comprehensive reauthorization proposals. The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit hearing, chaired by Rep. Thomas E. Petri (R-WI), included 13 other witnesses from various stakeholders organizations.

Focusing on the theme "Keeping the Trust in the Highway Trust Fund", Fay reminded members of Congress that the Highway Trust Fund is an attractive target for a variety of special interest groups. He reminded the subcommittee that it is important to be vigilant in making sure that the funds invested by motorists into the fund are used for highways and bridges. He noted that all federal, state, and local governments are presently underfunding road mprovements and would need to spend about $20 billion more than current levels just to maintain current operational conditions.

Fay also endorsed Senator Max Baucus' (D-MT) bipartisan legislation, the MEGATrust Act, which would boost highway funding by $6 billion by restoring highway funding lost from ethanol subsidies, and would stop diversion of interest on the balance of the Highway Trust Fund. Fay also urged the committee to increase enforcement of fuel tax evasion laws and to tax aviation fuel at terminal racks, which would save at least $1 billion in diesel fuel tax fraud.

In addition to discussing a variety of options for increasing the size of the highway program, Fay gave the assembled Congressmen a preliminary list of priorities and reminded them that the Highway Users plans to issue several briefs on various reauthorization topics over the coming months. Fay asked Congress to:

• Expedite Project Delivery through Environmental Streamlining
• Emphasize "Roadway Safety" in Highway Safety and Research Titles
• Improve the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program by measuring its benefits on a project-by-project basis and allowing its use for new capacity
• Make Smart Transit Choices by Shifting Funding to Commuter Bus, Paratransit, and Bus Rapid Transit
• Support Quality Growth NOT Extreme Slow Growth Plans
• Target Research to Making Pavements and Bridges Stronger and Improving Roadway Safety and Data Collection
• Create a Bottleneck Removal Program
• Preserve State-by-State "Flexibility" by allowing States to set their own priorities
• Preempt the Coming Truck Congestion Crisis by funding capacity-building projects along heavily trucked routes.