Sponsors (5)
The bill gives states much greater flexibility to shift federal highway dollars toward bridges, transit, and safety projects — potentially accelerating local priorities — but that flexibility risks reduced highway maintenance, uneven state choices, higher long-term repair costs, and lost work for highway contractors.
State governments can reallocate up to 75% of federal-aid highway funds to other eligible programs, allowing states to fund more bridges, transit, safety, and other local priorities and to accelerate non-highway projects.
Drivers, freight carriers, and local communities could see worse highway conditions and increased safety risks if states divert funds away from highway construction and maintenance, and taxpayers may face higher long-term repair costs from uneven state decisions.
Local contractors and construction workers who rely on highway projects could lose work and income if more federal highway dollars are shifted to non-highway programs, reducing economic activity in the highway construction sector.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Raises the cap on how much of certain Federal-aid highway funds a State may transfer from 50% to 75%, increasing State flexibility to reallocate those dollars.
Allows states to transfer a larger share of certain Federal-aid highway funds to other eligible transportation programs by raising the statutory transfer cap from 50% to 75%. The change gives state transportation agencies and governments more flexibility to move existing federal highway dollars among eligible uses without creating new federal funding or new programs.
Introduced August 8, 2025 by Harriet Hageman · Last progress August 8, 2025