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CBO projects that, starting in 2015, the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund will have insuf-
ficient revenues to meet its obligations, resulting in steadily accumulating shortfalls. That projection is based
on two assumptions: that the taxes whose receipts are allocated to the highway account will continue at their
current rates (most of those taxes are scheduled to expire at the end of September 2016) and that federal
funding for highways will increase at CBO’s projected rate of inflation. To avoid such shortfalls, lawmakers
would have to enact legislation to reduce highway funding, increase dedicated tax receipts, transfer money
from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund (as has occurred in recent years), or under-
take some combination of those approaches.

cash flow of the highway account of the highway trust fund

Billions of dollars, by fiscal year

60 actual Projected
outlays
40 receipts

20

0

-20
End-of-year
-40 Balance of
shortfall
-60

-80

-100
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022

congressional Budget office March 2013 • WWW.cBo.gov/PUBlicatioN/43884

44 arkaNsas TruckiNg reporT | issue 6 2013