Title: Highway Trust Fund Basics: A Primer on Federal Surface Transportation Spending | The Heritage Foundation
Headings: Highway Trust Fund Basics: A Primer on Federal Surface Transportation Spending
Highway Trust Fund Basics: A Primer on Federal Surface Transportation Spending
Highway Trust Fund Overview
Condition of the Nation’s Roads and Bridges
State Action on Transportation Funding
Proposed Approaches to Address the Highway Trust Fund Budget
Conclusion
Authors

Content: Sequestration and Highway Trust Fund. Due to its unique hybrid status, Highway Trust Fund expenditures are essentially exempt from sequestration. [ 16] However, transfers into the Highway Trust Fund are subject to sequestration cuts. Most recently, MAP-21 transferred $18.8 billion into the Highway Trust Fund for FY 2013 and FY 2014, which was reduced to $17.6 billion after sequestration cuts. Since 2008, sequestration has had a small effect on general fund transfers, reducing total transfers from $63.1 billion to $61.9 billion. [ 17] Under current law, any funds transferred into the Highway Trust Fund from the general fund after the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 expires at the end of FY 2015 would be subject to sequestration through 2021. Condition of the Nation’s Roads and Bridges
While the common perception is that America’s infrastructure is “crumbling” and thus requires more federal expenditures, the reality is not nearly as bleak. Some infrastructure certainly requires maintenance and updating, as congestion is a major concern in many metropolitan areas. Indeed, the federal government provides perverse incentives for states to spend billions on new, unneeded projects instead of maintaining existing systems. [ 18]
Yet taken as a whole, the nation’s infrastructure performs well and is improving.