Other names for this bill...
This bill also is referred to as the DRIVE Act (acronym for the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act).
This bill would extend highway projects for 6 years
This bill would authorize transportation programs paid for by the Highway Trust Fund for six years. It provides funding for the first three of those years.
Paying... everything except increasing taxes
The problem with the Highway Trust Fund is that the tax on fuel that is supposed to fund it does not bring in enough to do so. This bill would not increase the tax to close that gap. Instead, it would supplement the existing tax with money from a variety of other sources.
Some sources would use money or resources that had been allocated for other uses...
o Use money collected from civil penalties related to motor vehicle safety. This effectively would be a $350 million transfer from the general fund.
o Some Transportation Security Administration (TSA) fees are deposited to the general fund, rather than being used for security measures. This bill would extend that provision for 2 extra years (through 2026).
o Sell 101 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) through 2025, for an estimated $9 billion.
Other sources would increase revenues in ways that would benefit the overwhelming majority of Americans even if the extra money was not used for highway projects...
o Require mortgage lenders to provide more detailed information to the IRS, which would make it tougher for homeowners to inaccurately report their interest deduction.
o Require the value of the house to be reported at the time a house is inherited. This will prevent the new owner from later overstating the initial value to reduce the amount of tax owed.
o If property owners overstate how much the property cost them, their tax bill would be lower. A Supreme Court ruling had invalidated a law that gave the IRS six years to reassess these values. This bill would clarify the law and return that ability to the IRS.
o Index the fees collected by U.S. Customs to inflation.
o Allow the government to deny or revoke the passport of someone who owes more than $50,000 to the IRS. For those who are overseas, their passport could be restricted to allow them only to return to the United States.
Other provisions include...
o Allow the Social Security Administration to withhold Social Security benefits from people with felony arrest warrants against them.
o Require the federal government to use private debt collection agencies to help collect unpaid taxes.
The House refused to consider this bill
The Senate was prepared to approve this bill. However, the House of Representatives said it would not consider it.
Instead, the House passed a 3-month extension, which the Senate later approved in order to ensure that funding to the states from the Highway Trust Fund would not halt.
More information
You can find more details about this bill at GovTrack.us.