Sponsors (3)
The bill provides states more predictable, earlier federal highway funding with protections against sharp declines for recent high contributors, but risks locking in outdated distribution patterns, advantaging higher-contributing states, and adding administrative and budgetary complexity.
State transportation agencies receive a more predictable, annual apportionment formula for federal highway and related funds starting in FY2026, giving states clearer, stable expectations for budgeting and project planning.
States that recently paid more into the Highway Trust Fund are protected from sudden funding drops because apportionments cannot fall below 95% of their applicable percentage share, reducing funding volatility for those states.
Moving the annual apportionment deadline to October 1 gives states earlier certainty on allocations, improving their ability to schedule, deliver, and coordinate road and transit projects—especially benefiting rural and small jurisdictions with limited planning flexibility.
States that received larger shares under the FY2012 baseline may continue to get disproportionately large apportionments relative to current population or use, which can divert resources away from faster-growing or higher-need states.
Tying minimum apportionments to states' recent Highway Trust Fund tax contributions advantages higher-contributing states and may reduce funds available to states with lower recent contributions, potentially worsening geographic inequities.
Changing the apportionment formula could increase federal obligations or alter distribution unpredictably and will require DOT administrative work to implement, creating potential budgetary uncertainty and implementation costs borne by taxpayers and federal agencies.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Revises the formula for dividing federal highway funds so each State's starting share is based on FY2012 apportionments and cannot fall below 95% of a floor tied to its most recent Highway Trust Fund tax-payment share.
Introduced March 3, 2026 by Charles Roy · Last progress March 3, 2026
Changes how federal highway formula funds are divided among states by prescribing a new apportionment method that starts from each State’s FY2012 apportionment share and then guarantees no State gets less than 95 percent of a measure tied to its most recent share of Highway Trust Fund tax payments. The Secretary of Transportation must apply this method for FY2026 and each fiscal year after, with apportionments made on October 1 of each year. The bill affects the combined apportionment used for a group of core federal highway and surface-transportation formula programs, shifts relative shares among States, and requires the Department of Transportation to use recent Highway Trust Fund tax-payment data to compute an "applicable percentage" that sets a 95% floor for each State's combined apportionment.