As part of its recently released mid-session budget and economic review, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revised projections for the Highway Trust
As part of its recently released mid-session budget and economic review, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revised projections for the Highway Trust Fund to predict a $5.1 billion cash deficit in the Highway Account by the (2004-2009) SAFETEA expiration. The new projections predict that the Mass Transit Account, by contrast, will hit a cash balance high point of $8.1 billion in FY 2008 before starting a gradual decline. The difference in the highway and transit balances is due to a SAFETEA provision that reset the outlay calculation for transit programs.
The new CBO calculations parallel White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures from the summer, which cited an estimated $4.3 billion cash deficit in the spending levels of the Highway Account under the SAFETEA spending levels, set to expire on September 30, 2009. The OMB and CBO numbers have forced the Department of Transportation to begin notifying Congress of its contingency plans in the event that the Highway Account reaches zero cash balance. Û AASHTO Transportation Weekly