After having been without a long-term highway bill since 2009, the U.S. aggregates industry will likely get its wish for substantial federal highway funding, perhaps as early as this week. Media reports have put the total value of the five-year FAST Act (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act) at everything from $253 billion to $305 billion. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) puts the total at $286 billion, and the House of Representatives is likely to vote on it today.
ARTBA says the FAST Act would grow annual federal highway investment by 15.1 percent from the current $40.3 billion to $46.4 billion. The association says the bill does not provide a permanent solution to the Highway Trust Fund’s structural revenue deficit. “The measure uses a variety of one-time cost savings and non-transportation resources to supplement incoming trust fund revenue to support its investment levels over the next five years,” ARTBA says. “As such, the Highway Trust Fund will be facing another revenue shortfall in roughly four years and the current $15 billion per year gap between what current trust fund receipts can support and existing investment level will widen.”
Although the bill is not the six-year, $478 billion measure President Obama was hoping for, he is expected to sign the bill if it is passed by Congress.
