House Passes Bill To Spend Travel Funds

<H1>House Passes Bill To Spend Travel Funds</H1> The House of Representatives has approved legislation that its supporters hope will force the federal government to fully spend down the $30 billion surplus in the four transportation trust funds. The Truth in Budgeting Act, however, doesn't have as bright an outlook in the Senate-where the powerful chairmen of both the budget and appropriations committees oppose the measure. President Clinton also has lobbied against the legislation.

The bill would prohibit the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Highway Trust Fund, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund from being included in the unified federal budget and, in effect, eliminate the government's ability to use the balance in these accounts to offset the deficit.

The Travel and Tourism Government Affairs Council hailed the House vote, saying it "moves us one step closer to ending this budget charade, where the federal government collects gasoline and airline taxes from travelers and holds some of this revenue back to build up surpluses that are used to mask the true size of the budget deficit.