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S. 3786

U.S. Senate•In Senate Committee

Summary

S. 3786, the Balance the Highway Trust Fund Act, was introduced in the Senate on Feb 5, 2026 by Sen. Mike Lee (R). It was referred to Environment And Public Works, and last saw action on Feb 5, 2026: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Record

Text

S. 3786 has no co-sponsors and has not gone to a roll call.

sb3786/introduced-in-senate.txt
119 S3786 IS: Balance the Highway Trust Fund Act
 U.S. Senate
 2026-02-05
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 3786  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   February 5, 2026   Mr. Lee  introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Environment and Public Works    A BILL
To limit spending from the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Balance the Highway Trust Fund Act  .
2.
Obligation limitation
(a)
General limitation
Subject to subsection (d) and notwithstanding any other provision of law, for each fiscal year, the obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs shall not exceed the net highway receipts most recently estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury for that fiscal year under  section 9503(d)(1)(B)  of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(b)
Distribution of obligation authority
For each fiscal year, the Secretary of Transportation (referred to in this section as the  Secretary )—
(1)
shall not distribute obligation authority provided by subsection (a) for the fiscal year for—
(A)
amounts authorized for administrative expenses and programs by section 104(a) of title 23, United States Code; and
(B)
amounts authorized for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics;
(2)
shall not distribute an amount of obligation authority provided by subsection (a) that is equal to the unobligated balance of amounts—
(A)
made available from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for previous fiscal years the funds for which are allocated by the Secretary (or apportioned by the Secretary under section 202 or 204 of title 23, United States Code); and
(B)
for which obligation authority was provided in a previous fiscal year;
(3)
shall determine the proportion that—
(A)
the obligation authority provided by subsection (a) for the fiscal year, less the aggregate of amounts not distributed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection; bears to
(B)
the total of the sums authorized to be appropriated for the Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, less the aggregate of the amounts not distributed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection;
(4)
shall distribute the obligation authority provided by subsection (a), less the aggregate amounts not distributed under paragraphs (1) and (2), for each of the programs (other than programs to which paragraph (1) applies) that are allocated by the Secretary under this Act and title 23, United States Code, or apportioned by the Secretary under section 202 or 204 of that title, by multiplying—
(A)
the proportion determined under paragraph (3); by
(B)
the amounts authorized to be appropriated for each such program for the fiscal year; and
(5)
shall distribute the obligation authority provided by subsection (a), less the aggregate amounts not distributed under paragraphs (1) and (2) and the amounts distributed under paragraph (4), for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs that are apportioned by the Secretary under title 23, United States Code (other than the amounts apportioned under sections 202 and 204 of title 23, United States Code) in the proportion that—
(A)
amounts authorized to be appropriated for the programs that are apportioned under title 23, United States Code, to each State for the fiscal year; bears to
(B)
the total of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for the programs that are apportioned under title 23, United States Code, to all States for the fiscal year.
(c)
Redistribution of unused obligation authority
Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Secretary shall, after August 1 of each fiscal year—
(1)
revise a distribution of the obligation authority made available under subsection (b) if an amount distributed cannot be obligated during that fiscal year; and
(2)
redistribute sufficient amounts to those States able to obligate amounts in addition to those previously distributed during that fiscal year, giving priority to those States having large unobligated balances of funds apportioned under sections 144 (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of MAP–21 ( Public Law 112–141 )) and 104 of title 23, United States Code.
(d)
Applicability of obligation limitations to transportation research programs
(1)
In general
Except as provided in paragraph (2), obligation limitations imposed by subsection (a) shall apply to contract authority for transportation research programs carried out under  chapter 5  of title 23, United States Code.
(2)
Exception
Obligation authority made available under paragraph (1) shall—
(A)
remain available for a period of 4 fiscal years; and
(B)
be in addition to the amount of any limitation imposed on obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for future fiscal years.
(e)
Redistribution of certain authorized funds
(1)
In general
Not later than 30 days after the date of distribution of obligation authority under subsection (b) for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall distribute to the States any funds (excluding funds authorized for the program under section 202 of title 23, United States Code) that—
(A)
are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year for Federal-aid highway programs; and
(B)
the Secretary determines will not be allocated to the States (or will not be apportioned to the States under section 204 of title 23, United States Code), and will not be available for obligation, for the fiscal year because of the imposition of any obligation limitation for the fiscal year.
(2)
Ratio
Funds shall be distributed under paragraph (1) in the same proportion as the distribution of obligation authority under subsection (b)(5).
(3)
Availability
Funds distributed to each State under paragraph (1) shall be available for any purpose described in section 133(b) of title 23, United States Code.
3.
Obligation limitation
Section 5338 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(f)
Obligation limitation
Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other provision of law, for each fiscal year, the total of all obligations from amounts made available from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund by subsection (a) and any other provision of law shall not exceed the net mass transit receipts most recently estimated for that fiscal year by the Secretary of the Treasury under  section 9503(e)(4)  of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
 .
4.
Effective date
This Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect October 1, 2027.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2026-02-05
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

A bill to limit spending from the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

Sponsors

Sen. Mike Lee (R) sponsors S. 3786 alone.

Mike Lee

Sen. · R–UT · Sponsor

Committees

S. 3786 went before 1 committee: Environment and Public Works.

Environment and Public Works
Environment and Public Works
Referred To · Feb 5, 2026 · 257 Bills

Actions

S. 3786 has taken 2 actions since Feb 5, 2026.

ChamberAction
Feb 5, 2026
Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.Environment and Public Works Committee
Feb 5, 2026
—
Introduced in Senate

Votes

S. 3786 has not gone to a roll call.

Titles

S. 3786 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Balance the Highway Trust Fund Act — Display Title
  • Balance the Highway Trust Fund Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • A bill to limit spending from the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

1 client hired 1 firm and 7 registered lobbyists who named S. 3786 in 2 quarterly filings, 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Budget/Appropriations, Homeland Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Transportation.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION—District of Columbia12—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION12—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ANASTASIA TIONGSON112
BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ112
JILLIAN KINDER112
KATIE MABRY112
MARKUS HYBNER112
TANEESHA JOHNSON112
WARD MCCARRAGHER112

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATIONAMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION2026 second_quarter$660K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATIONAMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION2026 first_quarter$350K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 3786 under Transportation and Public Works, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; S. 3786’s is Transportation and Public Works.

s3786/policy-areas.txt
Transportation and Public WorksAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationWater Resources Development

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com