WASHINGTON - Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said she supports legislation proposed by the chairman of the Finance Committee that would keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the end of the calendar year.
"Yes, we support a short-term patch to get us through the construction season, and then a six-year funding source," Boxer, D-Calif., said at a Wednesday news conference. She urged Republicans on the Finance Committee to join with their Democratic colleagues to prevent the highway fund from becoming insolvent.
The legislation being considered Thursday by the Finance Committee -- put forward by committee chairman Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. - would authorize spending from the HTF through Dec. 31 by transferring about $9 billion from the general fund. Wyden's plan would offset the transfer by raising a similar amount through tax changes over 10 years.
Boxer said a short-term patch to keep the fund functional through Dec. 31 is wise because it gives Congress the opportunity to pass a long-term highway bill after the November elections.
"Don't put it off, and don't play politics with it," she said.
The balance in the HTF, which is supported by the revenues from motor fuel taxes and reimburses states for surface transportation projects, is expected to fall below a critical threshold as early as mid-July.
When the cash balance in the fund falls to $4 billion, payments to states for on-going projects will be delayed or curtailed. Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, the current two-year highway bill, expires Sept. 30.
Absent congressional action, the trust fund will experience a shortfall of $18 billion in fiscal 2015 and almost $170 billion over the next six years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Last month, the Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bill that would reauthorize surface transportation programs for six years at current funding levels plus inflation. It is up to the Finance Committee to determine how to pay for the reauthorization.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who along with Sen. Patrick Murphy, D-Conn., has proposed a 12 cent per gallon increase in federal gasoline and diesel taxes over two years to bolster the highway fund, called Wyden's proposal "a charade."
"We'll steal money from future generations to make [the HTF] whole," Corker said Wednesday in an interview on the CNBC cable network. "The most conservative people in the world, when it comes to popular programs, will throw our kids under the bus."
The Wyden proposal for a short-term patch is likely to pass, Corker said.
"I know Congress is going to do the non-courageous thing over the next 30 days," he said. "It's very disappointing. It's going to happen."
The higher fuel taxes would generate an additional $18 billion in the first full year and $164 billion over 10 years, Corker said.
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee also are critical of the Wyden proposal.
"I am disappointed that the Senate appears to be heading down a partisan road on highway funding," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of Ways and Means. "Simply put, there is no way tax hikes to pay for more spending will fly in the House.
"I am looking at policies that have a history of bicameral, bipartisan support, and I intend to have the Ways and Means Committee ready to act early in July," Camp said.
Transportation industry group leaders agreed that the HTF needs fixing.
"Congress needs to come together with a bipartisan plan to permanently, permanently stabilize and grow the Highway Trust Fund's revenue base," said Pete Ruane, president and chief executive officer of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.
Delaying reimbursements to states "is the equivalent of the federal government defaulting on a commitment," said Bud Wright, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Ruane and Wright appeared with Boxer at Wednesday's news conference, along with representatives from business, labor, and highway construction advocacy groups.
