[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S60-S61]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

              SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EXTENSION ACT OF 1997

 Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, S. 1519, a bill to provide a 6-
month extension of highway, highway safety, and transit programs 
pending enactment of a law reauthorizing the Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, was introduced and passed the 
Senate on November 10, 1997. The bill was passed by the House on 
November 12, 1997, and sent to the President for approval.
  Because the measure was considered and passed on the same day as its 
introduction, the Committee on Environment and Public Works was not 
referred S. 1519, and a report was not filed. Subsequent to the passage 
of the legislation, however, the Congressional Budget Office issued a 
cost estimate, as required under the Senate rules. Therefore, I ask 
that a letter from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, 
dated December 1, 1997, be printed in the Record.
  The letter follows:

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                 Washington, DC, December 1, 1997.
     Hon. Franklin D. Raines,
     Director, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Raines: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed estimate

[[Page S61]]

     of the pay-as-you go effects of S. 1519, the Surface 
     Transportation Extension Act of 1997.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Clare 
     Doherty and Kristen Layman, both of whom can be reached at 
     226-2860.
           Sincerely,
                                                  June E. O'Neill,
                                                         Director.
     Enclosure.

 Congressional Budget Office: Pay-as-You-Go-Estimate, December 1, 1997


 S. 1519: Surface Transportation Extension Act of 1997, As cleared by 
                   the Congress on November 12, 1997

       S. 1519 would provide a temporary extension of highway and 
     transit programs authorized under the Intermodal Surface 
     Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). The bill would 
     provide contract authority of approximately $8.7 billion for 
     programs carried out by the Federal Highway Administration 
     (FHWA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
     (NHTSA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Of 
     that total, $15 million would be for the FHWA minimum 
     allocation program, which is exempt from the obligation 
     limitation that applies to the bulk of FHWA's spending. In 
     addition to providing contract authority, S. 1519 would 
     authorize the appropriation of $372 million for the Federal 
     Transit Administration for the first half of fiscal year 
     1998.
       The minimum allocation program is the only program 
     reauthorized in S. 1519 that has outlays that are classified 
     as direct spending. All other outlays from authorizations in 
     S. 1519 would be discretionary because they either would 
     result from discretionary appropriations for fiscal year 1998 
     or would be subject to obligation limitations included in the 
     1998 appropriation act for transportation (Public Law 105-
     66).
       S. 1519 would provide $15.46 million for the minimum 
     allocation program for the six-day period from January 26, 
     1998, through January 31, 1998. For the purposes of 
     estimating the pay-as-you-go impact of the act, this amount 
     has to be extrapolated through 2002, based on the spending 
     authority provided in the legislation. This approach is 
     required under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which 
     stipulates that an expiring mandatory program with current-
     year outlays in excess of $50 million be assumed to continue 
     at the program level in place when it is scheduled to expire.
       The $15.46 million in contract authority for six days 
     translates into an annualized level of $639 million for 
     January 26 through the remainder of fiscal year 1998 and for 
     each subsequent fiscal year. By comparison, the current CBO 
     baseline for the minimum allocation program includes contract 
     authority of $639 million for 1998, but assumes annual 
     increases to reflect projected inflation for subsequent 
     years. Thus, CBO estimates that enacting S. 1519 would 
     produce pay-as-you-go savings of $62 million in outlays over 
     the 1998-2002 period, relative to the current baseline.
       CBO's estimate of S. 1519's impact on outlays from direct 
     spending is summarized in the following table for fiscal 
     years 1998-2007. For purposes of enforcing pay-as-you-go 
     procedures, only the effects in the budget year and the 
     succeeding four years are counted. Also, only direct spending 
     outlays are subject to pay-as-you-go requirements; the 
     discretionary outlays from contract authority subject to 
     obligation limitations are not considered for pay-as-you-go 
     purposes.

                                                                  ESTIMATED EFFECTS OF S. 1519 ON DIRECT SPENDING AND RECEIPTS                                                                  
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                                                                                                             By fiscal year, in millions of dollars                                             
                                                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    1998         1999         2000         2001         2002         2003         2004         2005         2006         2007   
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Changes in outlays............................................            0           -2           -8          -19          -33          -47          -63          -80          -97         -115
Changes in receipts...........................................                                                                                                                                  
(9) Not applicable                                                                                                                                                                              
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       The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Clare Doherty 
     and Kristen Layman, both of whom can be reached at 226-2860. 
     The estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy 
     Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

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