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S.404, Highway Trust Fund Integrity Act of 1997
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
To modify the budget process to provide for separate budget
treatment of the dedicated tax revenues deposited in the Highway
Trust Fund.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 5, 1997
Mr. BOND (for himself, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. NICKLES, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr.
GREGG, and Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred jointly pursuant to the
order of August 4, 1977, as modified by the order of April 11,
1986, to the Committees on the Budget and Governmental Affairs,
with instructions that if one committee reports, the other
committee have thirty days to report or be discharged
A BILL
To modify the budget process to provide for separate budget
treatment of the dedicated tax revenues deposited in the Highway
Trust Fund.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Highway Trust Fund Integrity Act of
1997'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1)(A) the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 split the Federal
budgeting process into two budget categories, one for receipts
and mandatory spending and the other for discretionary
spending; and
(B) each budget category has its own rules, procedures, and
incentives;
(2) the taxes deposited into the Highway Trust Fund are in
the mandatory category, but most spending from the Highway
Trust Fund is in the discretionary category;
(3) since the Highway Trust Fund is split between the two
budget categories, the link between Highway Trust Fund taxes
and transportation spending is severed; and
(4) to reestablish the link between the taxes and spending of
the Highway Trust Fund, all the components of the Highway Trust
Fund should be part of the same budget category and subject to
the same budget rules and procedures.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
(a) BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT OF 1985-
Section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900(c)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
`(22) REVENUE CONSTRAINED FUND- The term `revenue constrained
fund'--
`(A) means the budget authority, outlays, and receipts of
the--
`(i) the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund as
established by section 9503 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986;
`(B) shall not be--
`(i) considered to be part of any category (as
defined in section 250(c)(4) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C.
900(c)(4))) of discretionary appropriations; or
`(ii) subject to sequestration under section 251(a)
of the Act (2 U.S.C. 901(a)); and
`(C) shall not be--
`(i) considered to be part of direct spending (as
defined in section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C.
900(c)(8))); or
`(ii) subject to sequestration under section 252(b)
of the Act (2 U.S.C. 902(b)).'.
(b) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT OF 1974- Section 3 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622) is amended by
adding at the end thereof the following:
`(11) REVENUE CONSTRAINED FUND- The term `revenue constrained
fund' has the meaning given that term in section 250(c) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2
U.S.C. 900(c)).'.
SEC. 4. BUDGETARY TREATMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL- Part A of title IV of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
`REVENUE CONSTRAINED FUNDS
`SEC. 408. It shall not be in order in either the House of
Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint
resolution, amendment, motion, conference report, or other measure
if the effect of the measure would have the effect of increasing
any specific new budget authority for a fiscal year for a revenue
constrained fund above the amount made available by section
251B(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act
of 1985.'.
(b) POINT OF ORDER- Subsections (c) and (d) of section 904 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 are each amended by inserting
after `306,' the following: `408,'.
(c) AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for the
Congressional Budget Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by
adding at the end of title IV the following:
`SEC. 408. Revenue constrained funds.'.
SEC. 5. SEQUESTER.
(a) IN GENERAL- Part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) is amended by
inserting after section 251A the following:
`SEC. 251B. SEQUESTRATION WITH RESPECT TO REVENUE CONSTRAINED FUNDS.
`(a) BUDGET AUTHORITY LIMITS- Amounts available from a revenue
constrained fund shall be reduced by the amount necessary to
eliminate any amount by which budget authority in the budget year
from the revenue constrained fund exceed the amount deposited in
the revenue constrained fund in the previous fiscal year.
`(b) AMOUNT AVAILABLE-
`(1) INITIAL ESTIMATE-
`(A) IN GENERAL- On October 1 of each year OMB shall
estimate the total amount of revenues deposited into each
revenue constrained fund during the previous fiscal year.
`(B) INITIAL AMOUNT AVAILABLE- An amount equal to 40
percent of the total amount of revenues is estimated to be
deposited in a revenue constrained fund under subparagraph
(A) shall be available for obligation in the budget year on
the date of the estimate under subparagraph (A).
`(2) FINAL ESTIMATE-
`(A) IN GENERAL- On December 15 of each year OMB shall
determine the total amount of revenues deposited into each
revenue constrained fund during the previous fiscal year.
`(B) AMOUNT AVAILABLE- An amount equal to the total
amount of revenues determined to be deposited in a revenue
constrained fund under subparagraph (A)--
`(i) shall be the total amount available for
obligation in the budget year on the date of the
determination under subparagraph (A); and
`(ii) shall replace the amount made available under
paragraph (1).
`(c) LOOK-BACK- If--
`(1) an appropriation for the fiscal year in progress is
enacted that causes a budgetary excess in a revenue constrained
fund as described in subsection (a) for that year; or
`(2) errors in the determination made pursuant to subsection
(b)(2) cause a budgetary excess in a revenue constrained fund
for the fiscal year in progress;
the level set forth in subsection (b)(2) for the next fiscal year
shall be reduced by the amount of that excess.'.
(b) AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is
amended by adding after the item for section 251A the following:
`Sec. 251B. Sequestration with respect to revenue constrained
funds.'.
SEC. 5. BUDGETARY IMPACT.
(a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE-
(1) FINDINGS- The Congress finds that--
(A) the United States has substantial surface
transportation and infrastructure needs; and
(B) this Act will result in additional spending from the
Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund to help address
these substantial needs.
(2) PURPOSE- The purpose of this section is to clarify that
any budgetary offset necessary because of the additional
spending provided by this Act should not come from surface
transportation programs.
(b) SEQUESTRATION- The budgetary impact of the amendments made by
this Act shall not be considered for purposes of sequestration
under sections 251 or 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901, 902).
(c) DISCRETIONARY SPENDING LIMITATIONS- OMB shall reduce
discretionary spending limits for budget authority and outlays in
accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985 for each applicable fiscal year set forth in section
601(a)(2)--
(1) for budget authority, by an amount equal to the total
amount of discretionary budget authority provided from the
Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund in the Department of
Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997; and
(2) for outlays, by an amount equal to an estimate of the
amount of discretionary outlays that would be expended from the
Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund assuming that the
total amount of new budget authority and obligation authority
from the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund equaled the
amounts of new budget authority and obligation authority
provided from the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund in
the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1997.
SEC. 6. STUDY TO ENSURE THAT THE HIGHWAY TRUST FUND IS DEFICIT
NEUTRAL.
(a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds the following:
(1) It is the policy of the United States Government that the
Highway Trust Fund should not contribute to or reduce the
Federal Government's annual budget deficit.
(2) Under current budgetary scorekeeping conventions used by
both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of
Management and Budget, increases in Highway Trust Fund revenue
generated by tax increases are partially offset by a reduction
in other Federal revenues that is equal to 25 percent of the
increase in Highway Trust Fund revenue.
(3) This 25 percent offset is a scorekeeping convention that
applies to all excise taxes, and is not uniquely applied to
Highway Trust Fund taxes.
(4) An up-to-date examination of how this offset should be
applied to Highway Trust Fund taxes is needed.
(b) REPORT-
(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 24 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Treasury, in
consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget, shall submit a report to Congress on ensuring the
deficit neutrality of the Highway Trust Fund.
(2) CONTENTS- In the report, the Secretary shall--
(A) determine the extent to which each of the taxes
deposited into the Highway Trust Fund is a deductible
expense from other Federal taxes;
(B) provide an estimate of the amount of Highway Trust
Fund taxes that were deducted from Federal income taxes or
other taxes;
(C) provide an estimate of the annual revenue loss
because Highway Trust Fund taxes are deductible from other
Federal taxes;
(D) determine the appropriate scorekeeping convention
that should apply to Highway Trust Fund taxes, or if
needed, separately to each of the taxes now deposited into
the Highway Trust Fund; and
(E) provide the Congress with policy options that would
ensure that changes to the Highway Trust Fund taxes do not
contribute to the deficit.
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