U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx on Tuesday, July 1, sent letters to state transportation departments and transit agencies outlining steps the Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon be forced to take to manage the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. In both letters, Secretary Foxx outlined the Department’s proposed plan while emphasizing the need for Congress to act in order to avoid such a shortfall.
Each year, the U.S. Department of Transportation apportions funding to the states for their highway programs based on formula established in Federal law. Starting in August, DOT will use those same percentages to determine how much each state will receive of whatever amount is left in the Trust Fund. Reimbursements to States will be limited to the available cash in the Trust Fund, and new revenues will be added every two weeks as money from the gas tax flows into the Fund. A similar process will be implemented for Federal Transit Administration funds in the fall, when the transit account of the Highway Trust Fund is expected to become insolvent.