I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 4

To provide off-budget treatment for the Highway Trust Fund, the Airport

and Airway Trust Fund, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, and the

Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 7, 1997

Mr. SHUSTER (for himself and Mr. OBERSTAR) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To provide off-budget treatment for the Highway Trust

Fund, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Inland

Waterways Trust Fund, and the Harbor Maintenance

Trust Fund.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Truth in Budgeting

5 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF HIGHWAY TRUST

2 FUND, AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND,

3 INLAND WATERWAYS TRUST FUND, AND HAR4 BOR MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law except the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, the

7 receipts and disbursements of the Highway Trust Fund,

8 the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Inland Water9 ways Trust Fund, and the Harbor Maintenance Trust

10 Fund—

11 (1) shall not be counted as new budget author12 ity, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for pur13 poses of—

14 (A) the budget of the United States Gov15 ernment as submitted by the President,

16 (B) the congressional budget (including al17 locations of budget authority and outlays pro18 vided therein), or

19 (C) the Balanced Budget and Emergency

20 Deficit Control Act of 1985; and

21 (2) shall be exempt from any general budget

22 limitation imposed by statute on expenditures and

23 net lending (budget outlays) of the United States

24 Government.

25 (b) LIMITATION ON INTEREST PAID TO TRUST

26 FUNDS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section

2 9602(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is

3 amended by adding at the end the following new

4 sentence: ‘‘The amount of interest credited to the

5 Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Highway Trust

6 Fund, the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, or the

7 Inland Waterways Trust Fund for any fiscal year

8 shall not exceed the amount of interest which would

9 be credited to such Fund if such interest were deter10 mined at the average interest rate on 52-week

11 Treasury securities sold to the public during such

12 fiscal year.’’.

13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

14 by paragraph (1) shall apply to fiscal years begin15 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

16 SEC. 3. SAFEGUARDS AGAINST DEFICIT SPENDING OUT OF

17 AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 471 of title 49, United

19 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 47134

20 the following new section:

21 ‘‘§ 47135. Safeguards against deficit spending

22 ‘‘(a) ESTIMATES OF UNFUNDED AVIATION AUTHOR23 IZATIONS AND NET AVIATION RECEIPTS.—Not later than

24 March 31 of each year, the Secretary, in consultation with

25 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall estimate—
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1 ‘‘(1) the amount which would (but for this sec2 tion) be the unfunded aviation authorizations at the

3 close of the first fiscal year that begins after that

4 March 31, and

5 ‘‘(2) the net aviation receipts at the close of

6 such fiscal year.

7 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE IF EXCESS UNFUNDED AVIATION

8 AUTHORIZATIONS.—If the Secretary determines for any

9 fiscal year that the amount described in subsection (a)(1)

10 exceeds the amount described in subsection (a)(2), the

11 Secretary shall determine the amount of such excess.

12 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENT OF AUTHORIZATIONS IF UN13 FUNDED AUTHORIZATIONS EXCEED RECEIPTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF PERCENTAGE.—If the

15 Secretary determines that there is an excess referred

16 to in subsection (b) for a fiscal year, the Secretary

17 shall determine the percentage which—

18 ‘‘(A) such excess, is of

19 ‘‘(B) the total of the amounts authorized

20 to be appropriated from the Airport and Airway

21 Trust Fund for the next fiscal year.

22 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT OF AUTHORIZATIONS.—If

23 the Secretary determines a percentage under para24 graph (1), each amount authorized to be appro25 priated from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for
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1 the next fiscal year shall be reduced by such percent2 age.

3 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS PREVIOUSLY WITH4 HELD.—

5 ‘‘(1) ADJUSTMENT OF AUTHORIZATIONS.—If,

6 after a reduction has been made under subsection

7 (c)(2), the Secretary determines that the amount de8 scribed in subsection (a)(1) does not exceed the

9 amount described in subsection (a)(2) or that the ex10 cess referred to in subsection (b) is less than the

11 amount previously determined, each amount author12 ized to be appropriated that was reduced under sub13 section (c)(2) shall be increased, by an equal per14 centage, to the extent the Secretary determines that

15 it may be so increased without causing the amount

16 described in subsection (a)(1) to exceed the amount

17 described in subsection (a)(2) (but not by more than

18 the amount of the reduction).

19 ‘‘(2) APPORTIONMENT.—The Secretary shall

20 apportion amounts made available for apportionment

21 by paragraph (1).

22 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Any funds ap23 portioned under paragraph (2) shall remain available

24 for the period for which they would be available if
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1 such apportionment took effect with the fiscal year

2 in which they are apportioned under paragraph (2).

3 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—Any estimate under subsection (a)

4 and any determination under subsection (b), (c), or (d)

5 shall be reported by the Secretary to Congress.

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

7 following definitions apply:

8 ‘‘(1) NET AVIATION RECEIPTS.—The term ‘net

9 aviation receipts’ means, with respect to any period,

10 the excess of—

11 ‘‘(A) the receipts (including interest) of the

12 Airport and Airway Trust Fund during such

13 period, over

14 ‘‘(B) the amounts to be transferred during

15 such period from the Airport and Airway Trust

16 Fund under section 9502(d) of the Internal

17 Revenue Code of 1986 (other than paragraph

18 (1) thereof).

19 ‘‘(2) UNFUNDED AVIATION AUTHORIZATIONS.—

20 The term ‘unfunded aviation authorization’ means,

21 at any time, the excess (if any) of—

22 ‘‘(A) the total amount authorized to be ap23 propriated from the Airport and Airway Trust

24 Fund which has not been appropriated, over
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1 ‘‘(B) the amount available in the Airport

2 and Airway Trust Fund at such time to make

3 such appropriation (after all other unliquidated

4 obligations at such time which are payable from

5 the Airport and Airway Trust Fund have been

6 liquidated).’’.

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

8 chapter 471 of title 49, United States Code, is amended

9 by inserting after the item relating to section 47134 the

10 following:

‘‘47135. Safeguards against deficit spending.’’.

11 SEC. 4. SAFEGUARDS AGAINST DEFICIT SPENDING OUT OF

12 THE INLAND WATERWAYS TRUST FUND AND

13 HARBOR MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND.

14 (a) ESTIMATES OF UNFUNDED INLAND WATERWAYS

15 AUTHORIZATIONS AND NET INLAND WATERWAYS RE16 CEIPTS.—Not later than March 31 of each year, the Sec17 retary of the Army, in consultation with the Secretary of

18 the Treasury, shall estimate—

19 (1) the amount which would (but for this sec20 tion) be the unfunded inland waterways authoriza21 tions and unfunded harbor maintenance authoriza22 tions at the close of the first fiscal year that begins

23 after that March 31; and
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1 (2) the net inland waterways receipts and net

2 harbor maintenance receipts at the close of such fis3 cal year.

4 (b) PROCEDURE IF EXCESS UNFUNDED INLAND WA5 TERWAYS AUTHORIZATIONS.—If the Secretary of the

6 Army determines with respect to the Inland Waterways

7 Trust Fund or the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for

8 any fiscal year that the amount described in subsection

9 (a)(1) exceeds the amount described in subsection (a)(2),

10 the Secretary shall determine the amount of such excess.

11 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF AUTHORIZATIONS IF UN12 FUNDED AUTHORIZATIONS EXCEED RECEIPTS.—

13 (1) DETERMINATION OF PERCENTAGE.—If the

14 Secretary of the Army determines that there is an

15 excess referred to in subsection (b) for a fiscal year,

16 the Secretary of the Army shall determine the per17 centage which—

18 (A) such excess, is of

19 (B) the total of the amounts authorized to

20 be appropriated from the Inland Waterways

21 Trust Fund or the Harbor Maintenance Trust

22 Fund, as the case may be, for the next fiscal

23 year.

24 (2) ADJUSTMENT OF AUTHORIZATIONS.—If the

25 Secretary of the Army determines a percentage
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1 under paragraph (1), each amount authorized to be

2 appropriated from the Trust Fund for the next fiscal

3 year shall be reduced by such percentage.

4 (d) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS PREVIOUSLY WITH5 HELD.—If, after an adjustment has been made under sub6 section (c)(2), the Secretary of the Army determines with

7 respect to the Inland Waterways Trust Fund or the Har8 bor Maintenance Trust Fund that the amount described

9 in subsection (a)(1) does not exceed the amount described

10 in subsection (a)(2) or that the excess referred to in sub11 section (b) with respect to the Trust Fund is less than

12 the amount previously determined, each amount author13 ized to be appropriated that was reduced under subsection

14 (c)(2) with respect to the Trust Fund shall be increased,

15 by an equal percentage, to the extent the Secretary of the

16 Army determines that it may be so increased without caus17 ing the amount described in subsection (a)(1) to exceed

18 with respect to the Trust Fund the amount described in

19 subsection (a)(2) (but not by more than the amount of

20 the reduction).

21 (e) REPORTS.—Any estimate under subsection (a)

22 and any determination under subsection (b), (c), or (d)

23 shall be reported by the Secretary of the Army to Con24 gress.
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1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act, the fol2 lowing definitions apply:

3 (1) AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND.—The

4 term ‘‘Airport and Airway Trust Fund’’ means the

5 Airport and Airway Trust Fund established by sec6 tion 9502 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

7 (2) HARBOR MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND.—The

8 term ‘‘Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund’’ means the

9 Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund established by sec10 tion 9505 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

11 (3) HIGHWAY TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘High12 way Trust Fund’’ means the Highway Trust Fund

13 established by section 9503 of the Internal Revenue

14 Code of 1986.

15 (4) INLAND WATERWAYS TRUST FUND.—The

16 term ‘‘Inland Waterways Trust Fund’’ means the

17 Inland Waterways Trust Fund established by section

18 9506 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

19 (5) NET HARBOR MAINTENANCE RECEIPTS.—

20 The term ‘‘net harbor maintenance receipts’’ means,

21 with respect to any period, the receipts (including in22 terest) of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund dur23 ing such period.

24 (6) NET INLAND WATERWAYS RECEIPTS.—The

25 term ‘‘net inland waterways receipts’’ means, with
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1 respect to any period, the receipts (including inter2 est) of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund during

3 such period.

4 (7) UNFUNDED INLAND WATERWAYS AUTHOR5 IZATIONS.—The term ‘‘unfunded inland waterways

6 authorizations’’ means, at any time, the excess (if

7 any) of—

8 (A) the total amount authorized to be ap9 propriated from the Inland Waterways Trust

10 Fund which has not been appropriated, over

11 (B) the amount available in the Inland

12 Waterways Trust Fund at such time to make

13 such appropriations.

14 (8) UNFUNDED HARBOR MAINTENANCE AU15 THORIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘unfunded harbor main16 tenance authorizations’’ means, at any time, the ex17 cess (if any) of—

18 (A) the total amount authorized to be ap19 propriated from the Harbor Maintenance Trust

20 Fund which has not been appropriated, over

21 (B) the amount available in the Harbor

22 Maintenance Trust Fund at such time to make

23 such appropriations.
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1 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.

2 This Act (including the amendments made by this

3 Act) shall apply to fiscal years beginning after September

4 30, 1997.

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