Senate approves transportation budget, includes rail passenger authority language and changes to legacy funds

The Senate on final passage approved Senate Bill 2012, a bill funding the North Dakota Department of Transportation and amending multiple provisions of the North Dakota Century Code, by a 46-0 vote with one senator absent.

The conference committee report and final bill bundle appropriations and reorganize several transportation revenue streams, and add a provision to allow the state to enter rail passenger authority agreements. Senator Wojcick, the bill carrier, told colleagues the conference compromise preserves motor vehicle excise tax revenue, shifts some Strategic Investment and Improvement Fund (SIF) dollars, and adjusts distributions to political subdivisions to make payments more certain.

The bill matters because it determines how state, federal and legacy-related dollars will be allocated across highways, cities, counties, townships and public transit and establishes statutory authority to participate in a multistate passenger-rail planning effort. That affects local pavement, bridge and transit projects and how the state can match federal grants.

Senator Wojcick summarized the major resource streams in the package and how they were allocated. He said the budget includes about $518.3 million in fuel registration taxes, $175 million in motor vehicle excise taxes, and 30 percent of legacy…