Sen. Mitt Romney is leading a new bipartisan effort to try to force lawmakers to come together to address looming funding shortfalls in several government trust funds.

In a draft bill shared first with CQ Roll Call, a bipartisan contingent led by the Utah Republican wants to establish “Rescue Committees” to write legislation providing 75 years of solvency for trust funds identified in a report to Congress from the Treasury Department. Examples of funds that would likely qualify include Social Security and the Highway Trust Fund.

“It was front and center, I think, during my campaign. It’s the number one issue that the people of my state care most about,” Romney said in an interview. “At some point, we’ve got to deal with these trust funds, or we get into a setting where the cure will be extraordinarily destructive and harmful, where benefits could be cut or taxes would have to skyrocket.”

Romney, a former Republican presidential nominee and Massachusetts governor, was among the senators who voted against the most recent bipartisan budget agreement, which did not tackle entitlement program spending.

As drafted, there would be a separate joint House-Senate rescue committee for each fund.