The pending highway bill gives Congress another chance to close a growing gap between how much cash the government brings in and how much it spends on transportation projects nationwide, but political barriers remain formidable.
Spending from the Highway Trust Fund, which supports roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, has outpaced revenue for two decades. Congress has covered multiyear surface transportation measures with hundreds of millions of dollars from the general fund, most recently in 2021 as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law.
Current authorizations run out Sept. 30, and lawmakers will once again be scrambling to bridge the gap.
“The ...