AASHTO Journal, 8 August 2014
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx this week sent a letter to state departments of transportation notifying them that the Federal Highway Administration would not institute cash management procedures that would have limited reimbursements.
Last week the House and Senate passed H.R. 5021, which transfers $10.8 billion into the Highway Trust Fund (see related AASHTO Journal story here), providing enough funds to keep the surface transportation program running through May 2015. As of Friday, Aug. 8, President Obama still had not signed the bill.
Foxx said that, while the latest bill solves the short-term problem, “There is still no long-term certainty. Worse still, this latest band-aid expires right as the next construction season begins, setting up another crisis next spring.”
According to the letter, FHWA “will again be required to prepare cash management procedures in anticipation of repeating the same Highway Trust Fund insolvency crisis.”