Obama to Unveil $302 Billion Tax-Funded Highway Bill

The Obama administration will send to Congress today a measure authorizing $302 billion in highway and mass transit projects over four years, prodding a debate that may leave the U.S. Highway Trust Fund unable to meet its obligations by July.

The proposal, to be released by the Transportation Department, will be in line with President Barack Obama’s budget request in February, according to a person familiar with the measure. It comes as House and Senate panels are drafting their own bill and with no plans in Congress to consider Obama’s proposed way to help pay for it: a one-time change in business taxes.

Congressional transportation leaders in both parties want to pursue six-year measures. They have little consensus on financing even as the DOT warns that the Highway Trust Fund -- which pays for projects out of gasoline and diesel-fuel taxes -- soon may not be able to meet its obligations. That risks leading states to slow or even halt work in a still-recovering economy.

Senator Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who is chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said this month that she is preparing a six-year measure that would provide the same amount of money annually as the current two- year, $105 billion bill expiring in September, plus inflation. Boxer said the bill won’t address how to pay for it, and she said she hopes an agreement on that can be worked out within a few months.