A new Bush administration update of the Highway Trust Fund’s financial health surprisingly projects a slightly smaller fiscal 2009 deficit than it estimated in February. Industry and state officials expected the numbers would be worse, but they are continuing to urge Congress to add revenue to close the trust-fund gap.
The new numbers, released by the Office of Management and Budget on July 28, peg the year-end 2009 shortfall in the trust fund’s highway account at $3.1 billion, compared with a $3.2-billion deficit forecast in February. Observers expected the gap to have widened.