The nation’s current surface transportation funding authorization expires on May 31, giving Congress a deadline to either come together on a long-term surface transportation funding solution, enact a short-term fix to keep funding at “status quo” levels, or let funding lapse altogether.

Funding the nation’s surface transportation program is a top priority for the Big 7 organizations – along with the state and local governments they represent – for several reasons, including: 

• Funding for the Highway Trust Fund has been eroding as federal motor fuel tax rates have not increased since 1993. The 18.4 cent per gallon tax on gasoline enacted in 1993 is worth approximately 11.5 cents today. As vehicles have become more fuel efficient, gasoline tax revenue has continued to slide.
• Over $100 billion in additional revenues would be required to maintain current spending levels plus inflation through 2022, according to a March 2012 report by the Congressional Budget Office.
• Congress has transferred more than $34 billion in general fund revenues into the Highway Trust Fund from fiscal year 2008 to 2010, and in 2012, appropriated an additional $18.8 billion in general revenues for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. This approach is not sustainable given competing demands and the federal government’s growing fiscal challenges.

ICMA and its fellow Big 7 organizations are planning a major transportation event on May 12 to educate Congress about the importance of finding a sustainable, long-term funding mechanism for the nation’s surface transportation system.