Conference committee begins reconciliation of transportation finance spreadsheets; major differences in rail, bonds and one-time projects remain

Members of the Minnesota Legislature’s transportation conference committee opened formal reconciliation work with a line-by-line walk-through of the conference spreadsheets for House File 2438 and Senate File 2082.

Andrew Lee, House fiscal staff, guided the committee through the budget comparison dated 05/07/2025, highlighting differences in appropriations, transfers and cancellations across aviation, passenger rail, state and local road funds and a number of one‑time project appropriations. "So in your packet should be a legal, spreadsheet ... labeled transportation ... budget conference comparison," Lee told the panel as he began the review.

Why it matters: the spreadsheet lays out the substantive funding choices that will determine which projects move forward and which are delayed. Conferees must reconcile major line items to finalize the omnibus transportation package.

Most notable finance differences

- Passenger rail: the spreadsheet shows a large Senate-side cancellation amount for the Northern Lights Express (listed as about $185,700,000 on the Senate side) and differing reductions/extensions for other rail analysis projects; the House also shows a cut to passenger rail operations in the tails.

- Trunk‑highway bonds and debt service: the Senate includes authorization for roughly $100 million in additional trunk‑highway bonds, producing a notable increase to trunk‑highway debt service; the House does not match that authorization.

- House one‑time appropriations: the House position lists substantial one‑time project funding — including a $30 million one‑time appropriation for transportation economic development from the highway fund and a $50 million one‑time resilient pavement appropriation over the biennium.

- Local funding transfers and HUTD changes: the House shows transfers to trunk and county state aid funds (about $66.6 million each in the tails) and reductions to the active transportation account transfer; the Senate shows targeted local assistance and different statutory mechanisms for local road funding gap assistance.

- Electric vehicle surcharges and revenue allocation: the Senate proposal would increase EV registration surcharges with revenue deposited to the highway user tax distribution fund (an increase the spreadsheet shows as roughly $26 million in the first biennium and $56 million ongoing). The House would route a portion of surcharge revenue to a special revenue account.

Other items flagged by staff

Lee walked committee members through many line items: airport automated weather stations, Duluth air traffic tower funding on the House side, a federal match request for the Big Sky/North Coast corridor, reappropriations for Amtrak Chicago service and separate extensions or statutory delays for property‑tax transfers to the passenger rail account. The spreadsheet also shows recognition of revenue from cancellations in FY25 that are carried into FY26 as available revenue.

Next steps and schedule

Chair and conferees said the committee intends to return to policy differences in later sessions and to receive public testimony at a follow-up meeting. Members were advised that signups for public testimony would be accepted through 9 a.m. the next day and that written testimony of up to two pages could be submitted electronically for distribution.

Ending: The spreadsheet walk-through framed the conference priorities; reconciling the highlighted differences remains the committee’s immediate task.