Source: January 12

On December 1, 2010, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, released final recommendations for reining in the U.S. deficit by 2015. The report, The Moment of Truth, addressed all aspects of the budget, including the country’s transportation program. The proposal included input from the eighteen commission members but was based on the earlier Co-Chairs’ Proposal, released in November 2010.

 All four recommendations submitted to the commission by the co-chairs of the Carnegie Endowment’s Leadership Initiative on Transportation Solvency were included in the commission’s final report. Below is a summary of how the recommendations for reforming and raising revenue for the U.S. transportation program—made by the Initiative’s co-chairs, the Honorable Bill Bradley, the Honorable Tom Ridge, and the Honorable David Walker—correspond to recommendations in The Moment of Truth.

Though eleven commission members endorsed the report—more than half of all members—they fell three votes short of the support needed to force a Congressional vote on the report. This proposal will remain salient, however, as the new Congress considers the growing budget, the debt ceiling, and the reauthorization of the transportation bill in 2011.

Leadership Initiative Recommendations November 2010	Fiscal Responsibility Commission Proposal December 2010
End Wasteful Spending on Existing Surface Transportation Accounts	“Before asking taxpayers to pay more for roads, rail, bridges, and infrastructure, we must ensure existing funds are not wasted. The Commission recommends significant reforms to control federal highway spending.”
Invest in Infrastructure to Grow the Economy	“Congress should limit trust fund spending to the most pressing infrastructure needs rather than forcing states to fund low-priority projects.”
Fully Fund a Reformed Federal Surface Transportation Program with New Revenue Sources	“RECOMMENDATION 1.7: FULLY FUND THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND INSTEAD OF RELYING ON DEFICIT SPENDING. Dedicate a 15-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax to transportation funding and limit spending if necessary to match the revenue the trust fund collects each year.”
Create a Transportation Realignment and Accountability Commission	“RECOMMENDATION 1.9: Establish a cut-and-invest committee to cut low-priority spending, increase high-priority investment, and consolidate duplicative federal programs.”