Highway spending, however, is not the only area where money is allocated in this fashion. According to the Congressional Research Service, the nation’s 20 busiest ports handle 80 percent of arriving oceangoing ships but account for less than 40 percent of federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund expenditures. 20 In the alloca- tion of funds for drinking water projects, millions of dollars are allotted every year just to ensure that every state receives at least 1 percent of the funds available. 21 Such processes virtually ensure a suboptimal distribution of investment, as money is directed according to arbitrary legal requirements not potential impact. America’s present.
