U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) recently reintroduced the Fair Allocation of Highway Funds Act, designed to allocate infrastructure funds to states more fairly.
The Highway Trust Fund currently distributes funds to states without considering the amount that would need to be transferred from the U.S. Treasury to make up for the gas tax shortage. This means some states receive up to six times more than they pay into the fund.
The bill would require that states receive credit for contributions to the General Fund.
“As a result of a flawed budgetary method, many states, including Illinois, do not receive their fair share of federal funding for transportation projects,” Foster said. “Illinois residents deserve proper funding so we can maintain our state’s roads and bridges. With proper funding from the federal government, we can get back to funding infrastructure Illinoisans rely on every day.”
In Illinois, the state will receive more than $4.5 billion between 2018 to 2020. If the bill becomes law, that amount would increase 8.86 percent, a difference of more than $408 million, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
The bill is cosponsored by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL). It was first introduced in September and advanced through the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.