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Senate Appropriations Committee approves amended DOT budget, shifts funds into flexible transportation pool
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Summary
The Senate Appropriations Committee amended and gave a do-pass recommendation to Senate Bill 20‑12 (the Department of Transportation budget), increasing flexible transportation fund authority, adding one‑time and ongoing appropriations, and authorizing carryovers; the committee approved the bill as amended on a recorded vote.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve Senate Bill 20‑12, the Department of Transportation (DOT) budget, as amended, after debate on funding shifts, new positions and one‑time project appropriations.
The amended bill increases federal appropriation authority for DOT, directs new deposits into the flexible transportation fund and adds one‑time and ongoing state dollars for projects and equipment. Senator Wanzek, who presented the bill and the package of amendments, described the combined package as “one big beautiful bill,” and walked the committee through base adjustments, salary and insurance increases, and a set of footnoted appropriations and authorizations.
Why it matters: Committee members said the changes expand DOT’s ability to match federal grants and to finance state projects that do not meet federal benefit‑cost thresholds. Several provisions change how legacy earnings and motor vehicle excise tax receipts flow into transportation accounts, increasing the flexible transportation fund’s capacity to fund local grants, bridge work and state highway priorities.
Key provisions and amounts include: an estimated $1,327,000,000 in total federal appropriation authority for the DOT in the bill; an increase in estimated federal funding of $406,821,876; one‑time state appropriations grouped at $25,134,212 for department facility improvements, appointment and inventory systems, roadway maintenance contract work, a walking‑trail grant and equipment replacement; a $171,300,000 CIF match for federal highway formula funds; and a $100,000,000 Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) appropriation to complete a section of US‑85 that does not meet federal cost‑benefit ratios. The package also authorizes carryover of unspent project dollars into the 2025‑27 biennium to allow completion of projects that extend past the current biennium.
The amendments change the Legacy Earnings Fund deposit policy by increasing the percent of market value directed to the flexible transportation fund (an increase of roughly one percentage point, yielding an estimated $86–$87 million), and redirect a larger share of motor vehicle excise tax receipts to the flexible transportation fund (estimated to reduce general fund transfers by about $177,100,000 but to provide roughly $360,000,000 in motor vehicle excise receipts to the flexible fund). The bill also makes a continuing appropriation available to the state rail fund (with a $30,000,000 cap and roughly $13,000,000 currently loaned for short line rail projects) and directs DOT to complete environmental review for four‑laning remaining sections of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway (US‑85).
Committee members asked for clarifications on several line items. Director Henke told the committee that the approximately $4,022,016 listed for information technology was intended to cover inflationary increases in IT operating costs rather than a large new IT initiative. He also confirmed that the $100,000,000 SIF appropriation is planned to cover a six‑mile segment of US‑85 near the Long X Bridge where federal funds would not be available due to the federal cost‑benefit analysis. Senator Davidson and others pressed for specifics about a $5,800,000 equipment replacement line and a walking‑trail grant; the chair and sponsors said some one‑time items were grouped together to avoid numerous small lines in the bill.
On committee procedure, the chair and sponsors explained that portions of three separate policy bills (including the legacy earnings change in Senate Bill 2,372) had been rolled into SB 20‑12, and the policy bills were recommended “do not pass” in committee after the language was incorporated into the budget bill.
Votes and outcome: The committee adopted the amendments (amendment package number 25.0170.010) and later moved a do‑pass as amended recommendation on SB 20‑12. The committee recorded the final motion as passed with a tally of 16 in favor; the committee clerk recorded the same margin for the amendment adoption earlier in the meeting.
What’s next: With the Appropriations Committee’s do‑pass recommendation, SB 20‑12 will move forward in the Senate process as the DOT appropriation package, carrying the amended language that reallocates legacy earnings and motor vehicle excise tax receipts into the flexible transportation fund.
