Description:
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the 2021-2031 period, enacting Senate Amendment 2137 to H.R. 3684 would decrease direct spending by $110 billion, increase revenues by $50 billion, and increase discretionary spending by $415 billion. On net, the legislation would add $256 billion to projected deficits over that period. The legislation would provide $382.9 billion in contract authority (a form of mandatory budget authority) for a variety of transportation programs over the 2022-2026 period. Under the rules governing baseline projections that are specified in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, this estimate incorporates an assumption that the contract authority of about $79.9 billion that would be provided in 2026 (the final year of the authorization) would also be provided in each subsequent year. CBO therefore estimates that an additional $399.6 billion in contract authority would be available over the 2027-2031 period, for a total of $782.5 billion over the 10-year period. Over the 2022-2031 period, that total would be $196.5 billion more that the amount in CBO’s July 2021 baseline. Spending from contract authority is controlled by obligation limitations specified in annual appropriation acts; therefore, the outlays for most surface transportation programs are considered discretionary and will be accounted for in a future appropriation bill that sets those limits. CBO estimates that outlays from obligation limitations equal to all of the available contract authority would total $362.7 billion over the 2021-2031 period: $287.0 billion for Federal Highway Administration programs, $66.5 billion for Federal Transit Administration programs, $4.3 billion for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration programs, and $4.9 billion for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration programs. Some of those outlays would result from contract authority and obligation limitations already projected in CBO’s baseline.
