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Committee flags removal of $7.2 million minimum for town highway structures; asks for clarification
Summary
Draft 3.1 replaces a statutory floor for state-approved town highway structure grants (currently set at $7.2 million) with a growth formula tied to appropriations or CPI; committee members raised concern that removing the minimum could allow the agency to approve fewer grants and asked for JFO/LCO review and counsel clarification.
The committee reviewed proposed changes to the state aid for town highway structures in draft 3.1 and flagged a substantive drafting change.
Committee staff explained the current statute requires the Agency of Transportation to approve qualifying town highway structure grants with a state share total of at least $7,200,000 each fiscal year. In the draft, staff modeled a formula similar to general town highway aid to increase funding over time, but inadvertently removed the statutory floor that guaranteed the minimum $7.2 million of approved state share grants.
Several members, including Representative Burke and Representative Berg, expressed concern that removing the floor could permit the agency to approve fewer grants in a given year and could shortchange towns, especially after costly winters and storm damage. Committee members asked legislative fiscal office (JFO) and legislative counsel (LCO) to review the drafting and to return language that preserves the committee’s intent to maintain at least the prior year’s level of grant approvals or an appropriate indexed minimum.
Ending: The committee paused final action on the town-highway-structures language and requested technical drafting guidance so the statute will reflect the committee’s intent regarding a funding floor or alternative indexing mechanism.
