Reconciliation Recommendations of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Legislation Summary

H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, instructed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to recommend legislative changes that would decrease deficits by a specific amount over the 2025-2034 period. As part of the reconciliation process, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved legislation on April 30, 2025, with provisions that would decrease deficits.

Estimated Federal Cost

In CBO’s estimation, the reconciliation recommendations of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure would decrease deficits by $36.6 billion over the 2025‑2034 period. The estimated budgetary effects of the legislation are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 400 (transportation), 500 (education, training, employment, and social services), 700 (veterans benefits and services), and 800 (general government).

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Basis of Estimate

For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted in summer 2025. CBO’s estimates are relative to its January 2025 baseline and cover the period from 2025 through 2034. Outlays of appropriated amounts were estimated using historical obligation and spending rates for similar programs. CBO’s estimate incorporates administrative and judicial action as of April 10, 2025, the date that H. Con. Res. 14 was approved by the Congress.

Direct Spending

Enacting the bill would increase direct spending by $27.8 billion over the 2025-2034 period (see Table 2), CBO estimates. Most of that amount would result from specified direct appropriations for activities of the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), offset by a reduction in direct spending from funds rescinded from transportation projects and programs involving federal buildings.

Coast Guard Assets Necessary to Secure the Maritime Border and Interdict Migrants and Drugs

Section 100001 would appropriate $21.2 billion for the Coast Guard to acquire, procure, and improve equipment and facilities, as follows:

• $14.6 billion for vessels, including offshore patrol cutters, polar security cutters, and arctic security cutters;
• $3.2 billion for shoreside infrastructure;
• $2.0 billion for aircraft; and
• $1.5 billion for other activities, including $500 million to acquire, procure, or construct a floating dry dock at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland.

Based on historical spending patterns for similar projects, and using information from the Coast Guard, CBO estimates that enacting section 100001 would increase outlays by $19.6 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

Changes to Mandatory Benefits Programs to Allow Selected Reserve Orders for Preplanned Missions to Secure Maritime Borders and Interdict Persons and Drugs

Section 100002 would authorize the Coast Guard to place members of the Selected Reserve on active duty under certain circumstances. That time would count toward the reservists’ entitlement for benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill; those benefits are paid from mandatory appropriations. Accounting for the increased benefits some reservists and their dependents would receive and using information from the Coast Guard, CBO estimates that each year, 250 reservists, on average, would accrue about six months of additional active duty that would be counted toward their eligibility.

Using information from the Department of Veterans Affairs, CBO estimates that the longer time reservists spend on active duty would increase direct spending by $9 million over the 2025-2034 period.

Vessel Tonnage Duties

Section 100003 would increase tonnage duties on vessels entering the United States. Those charges are levied by Customs and Border Protection and recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts (that is, as reductions in direct spending). In general, the bill would increase tonnage duty rates by 125 percent relative to rates under current law. In 2024, the government collected about $33 million in such charges.

CBO estimates that the higher rate would increase collections (and reduce direct spending) by about $38 million per year relative to current law, totaling $343 million over the 2025‑2034 period.

Registration Fee on Motor Vehicles

Section 100004 would appropriate $104 million in 2026 to support states as they implement systems for collecting registration fees for electric and hybrid vehicles. Those collections are discussed below in the section on Revenues.

Based on historical spending patterns for similar programs, CBO estimates that enacting this section would increase outlays by $102 million over the 2025-2034 period.

Motor Carrier Data

Section 100006 would appropriate $5 million to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to create a public website for tracking motor carriers’ compliance with the agency’s operating requirements. The provision also would allow FMCSA to collect fees from entities that access the website, which could be spent without further appropriation. Those collections are discussed below in the section on Revenues.

CBO estimates that enacting this section would increase outlays by $20 million over the 2025-2034 period, reflecting spending of the direct appropriation ($5 million) and the collected fees ($15 million).

Rescissions

Section 100007 would rescind funds from seven programs established under the 2022 reconciliation act with the following purposes:

• Support development of sustainable aviation fuel;
• Support projects to improve walkability, safety, and transportation access in disadvantaged communities;
• Convert General Services Administration (GSA) facilities to high-performing green buildings;
• Install low-carbon materials in GSA facilities;
• Support use of emerging technologies for environmental programs in GSA facilities;
• Support environmental review for transportation projects; and
• Support development of low-carbon transportation materials.

CBO estimates that enacting this section would reduce budget authority by $5.2 billion and outlays by $4 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

Air Traffic Control Staffing and Modernization

Section 100008 would appropriate $12.5 billion for the FAA to construct, acquire, improve, and operate various facilities and equipment as follows:

• $7.8 billion for radar and telecommunications systems;
• $2.2 billion for air traffic control facilities;
• $1.0 billion for air traffic controller recruitment, retention, and training; and
• $1.6 billion for other activities, including runway safety projects and unstaffed infrastructure.

Based on historical spending patterns for similar projects and using information from the FAA, CBO estimates that enacting this section would increase outlays by $12.0 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Appropriations

Section 100009 would appropriate $257 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, increasing outlays by the same amount over the 2025-2034 period.

Revenues

Enacting the bill would increase revenues by $64 billion over the 2025-2034 period (see Table 2). Almost all of that would be collected in registration fees on electric and hybrid vehicles under section 100004.

Registration Fee on Motor Vehicles

Sections 100004 and 100005 would require states to collect annual registration fees of $250 for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrid vehicles, through September 30, 2035, and to deposit those collections into the Highway Trust Fund. States would be required to remit 99 percent of the collected fees to the federal government, retaining up to 1 percent to cover administrative costs associated with collections. The Federal Highway Administration would be directed to withhold apportionments from the Highway Trust Fund for states that do not collect and remit the fees. Starting in fiscal year 2027, the withheld amount would be 125 percent of the amount required to be remitted.

CBO expects that states would generally enact the necessary legislative or administrative measures to implement and collect the required fees within a few years of enactment and would comply with the remittance requirements. Proceeds from the collections would be deposited into the Highway Trust Fund; outlays from the fund are controlled by annual obligation limitations and therefore are considered discretionary.

Indirect taxes and regulatory fees tend to reduce collections of income and payroll taxes. As a result, CBO expects that the new fee collections would be partially offset by decreases in tax receipts of about 25 percent of the gross fee collections each year.[1] CBO estimates that enacting sections 100004 and 100005 would increase revenues, on net, by $64 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

Motor Carrier Data

Section 100006 would authorize FMCSA to charge an annual fee of $100 for access to a website that would track motor carriers’ compliance with FMCSA’s operating requirements. Under the provision, brokers and similar entities would be considered to have exercised reasonable and prudent care in engaging motor carriers if they use the website to verify a carrier’s compliance status.

When they are collected by the federal government under its sovereign authority, fees are considered revenues. CBO considers a determination that an entity has acted in a “reasonable and prudent” manner as a matter of law to be an exercise of sovereign authority, so those access fees would be considered revenues.

Based on expected participation rates, and accounting for the offset for indirect taxes, CBO estimates that the collection of access fees would increase federal revenues, on net, by $12 million over the 2025-2034 period.

Uncertainty

Many of CBO’s estimates for the budgetary effects of enacting title X are subject to uncertainty because they rely on underlying projections and other estimates that are themselves difficult to estimate.

Several areas in particular are difficult to estimate:

• The amounts collected in tonnage duties under section 100003 could vary from CBO’s estimates because the volume of goods imported into the United States is uncertain. CBO also cannot predict changes in tariffs or certain other factors that would affect the volume of imported goods.
• Revenues collected for registrations of electric and hybrid vehicles under section 100004 could differ from estimated amounts if states begin to collect fees more quickly or slowly than CBO expects, or if there are more or fewer registrations than expected under current law.

Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and revenues that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.

Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or on‑budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2035.

Mandates

The reconciliation recommendations included in title X of the legislation would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the total cost of those mandates would exceed the thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($103 million and $206 million in 2025, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).

Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Fees

Section 100004 would require the owners of electric and hybrid vehicles to remit annual registration fees, which would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates on the owners of those vehicles. The requirement would include some light-duty vehicles owned by state and local governments, including schools, universities, and other public entities that are subject to state registration requirements. The legislation would exclude some commercial vehicles from the fee.

CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would exceed $10 billion each year once the policy has been fully implemented. The cost for intergovernmental entities to comply with the mandate would exceed the threshold starting in 2029 and remain above it each year through 2034. As a result of the legislation, to avoid paying the registration fees, some states could choose to modify their registration requirements for government-owned vehicles.

The section would impose an additional intergovernmental mandate by requiring states to administer and collect the fees on behalf of the federal government. States would update their registration processes unless an alternative is approved by the administrator of FMCSA. The legislation would provide a onetime grant to states to implement the policy and allow them to retain a portion of the remittances to cover administrative costs. For states unable to recover credit and debit card fees from vehicle registration remittances, CBO estimates that the requirement would result in a net loss of several million dollars in revenue each year.

Motor Carriers

Section 100006 would require FMCSA to establish a website that would provide information to brokers and similar entities on the status of a motor carrier’s compliance with FMCSA operational requirements. That provision would impose a private-sector mandate by limiting the rights of action that petitioners may make against brokers. Currently, when a motor carrier causes injuries or property damage, a petitioner may challenge whether the broker exercised due care in selecting the carrier. Under the legislation, brokers using that site will be considered to have exercised due care in selecting a motor carrier. The cost of the mandate would be any monetary damages that would not be awarded as a result. CBO cannot estimate the cost of the mandate because it would depend on the outcome of future litigation.

Coast Guard Selected Reserve

Section 100002 would expand the scope of an existing intergovernmental and private-sector mandate on employers. That section would extend the employment protections of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 to members of the Coast Guard Selected Reserve who are placed on active duty. Employers would be required to treat those reservists as furloughed employees or employees on a leave of absence, which would entitle them to any compensation or benefits otherwise available to them in that status. Upon their return from active duty, employers would be required to provide them with the same benefits, pay, and seniority as though they had not been deployed. The cost of the mandate would be the cost to employers that provide those benefits. CBO expects that each year the provision would affect 250 reservists, on average. The cost for public and private employers would be small.

Estimate Prepared By

Federal Costs:

Susan Yeh Beyer (for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts)

Paul B. A. Holland (for veterans’ education programs)
Aaron Krupkin (for aviation and maritime programs)

Willow Latham-Proença (for surface transportation programs)
Matthew Pickford (for federal buildings)

Molly Sherlock (for revenues)

Mandates: Brandon Lever

Estimate Reviewed By

Elizabeth Cove Delisle
Chief, Income Security Cost Estimates Unit

Ann E. Futrell
Acting Chief, Natural and Physical Resources Cost Estimates Unit

David Newman
Chief, Defense, International Affairs, and Veterans’ Affairs Cost Estimates Unit

Joshua Shakin
Chief, Revenue Projections Unit

Kathleen FitzGerald
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

Christina Hawley Anthony
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

H. Samuel Papenfuss 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

Chad Chirico 
Director of Budget Analysis

Estimate Approved By

[Table 2 begins on the next page.]

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