LEGISLATION co-sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has focused renewed attention on a critical issue: the looming deficit in the Federal Highway Trust Fund.

Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., proposed pouring $8 billion into the trust fund starting with the fiscal year beginning in October.

The Treasury Department projected in February that the fund will post a $3.3 billion deficit for that period. That figure likely will be higher in a new forecast to be released this month, ENR (Engineering News-Record).com reported.

"We're expecting much worse news than we got back in February," Brian Deery, senior director of the Associated General Contractors' highway and transportation division, told ENR.com.

The Grassley-Baucus measure was introduced in May as an amendment to a bill reauthorizing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The amendment failed to advance when Congress decided last week to extend the current FAA legislation until September rather than pass a new multi-year authorization.

Baucus rightly warned in a statement that the trust fund deficit "threatens to derail our infrastructure projects and put our citizens at risk," and said the funding measure was "crucial legislation for America's public safety and for folks who desperately need the jobs that highway funds create."

He called the amendment a "timely, responsible and critical response to the need for highway jobs and safer American roadways."

Baucus made an important point about the timeliness of the proposal, which was designed to prevent cuts that will be felt as early as next construction season.

A deficit of $3.3 billion will mean a cutback of $13.5 billion in actual construction and a loss of 445,000 jobs. States overall could see a 32 percent reduction in federal highway funding.

The deficit could become even worse if Americans continue cutting back on the miles they drive, since the trust fund is financed mainly by the federal gasoline tax. That tax has remained at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993.

The federal government reported earlier this month that Americans drove 30 billion miles less during the six months that ended in April, compared to a year ago.

Less travel means less revenue even while construction costs are soaring.

That prospect adds greater urgency for Congress to act. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told ENR.com that observers began predicting in 2005 that the fund would be operating in the red starting in 2009.

"And because of the phenomena that we're now seeing -- people driving less, people using more fuel-efficient vehicles -- that day will come and will come sooner rather than later....We need to deal substantively with that."

Grassley is commended for recognizing the seriousness of the problem and trying to avert the infrastructure crisis that will begin to occur starting next year.

The rest of Congress should follow his lead and make this matter a top priority when members return next week.

A solution must be found -- and soon.