The House was drawing close to a vote at press time on a bill that would provide a remedy to a projected deficit in the Highway Trust Fund. The measure, introduced on July 17 by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), would shift $8 billion to the trust fund from the general fund.

Attempts in the House and Senate to attach a trust-fund “fix” to an aviation bill failed in June. The Senate Appropriations Committee included the $8-billion shift to the trust fund in a transportation bill that it cleared on July 10.

The Treasury Dept. projected the trust fund’s highway account will show a $3.2-billion deficit in 2009. The shortfall is expected to grow when updated estimates are released, perhaps by Aug. 1.