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Senate lays over omnibus transportation bill after fiscal briefing and MnDOT, DPS testimony
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Summary
Senators reviewed Senate File 3988, the omnibus transportation bill, heard a line‑by‑line fiscal briefing from Senate fiscal analyst Krista Boyd and testimony from MnDOT and Department of Public Safety commissioners, and agreed to lay the bill over while moving some appropriations into a safety and security vehicle.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Marty convened the panel April 22 to consider Senate File 3988, an omnibus transportation bill covering MnDOT, Metro Transit, driver and vehicle services and the State Patrol. The committee received a fiscal walkthrough and took testimony from agency officials before laying the bill over for further work later this week.
Krista Boyd, the Senate’s fiscal analyst for transportation, led members through the bill spreadsheet, flagging a mix of one‑time transfers, reappropriations and ongoing special‑revenue items. She identified a $550,000 one‑time transfer between aviation accounts, a $250,000 one‑time reduction and reappropriation related to passenger‑rail project planning, a $6 million original appropriation with a planned $1.4 million extension for Progress Parkway projects, and trunk‑highway fund extensions totaling $4.8 million for truck‑parking safety projects. Boyd also identified state‑patrol capital security requests and several driver‑and‑vehicle services items funded from DVS special revenue accounts.
"Starting on line 3, this would be under Department of Transportation appropriations," Boyd told the committee as she described the spreadsheet and the general‑fund impact. She said the bill’s general‑fund impact totaled about $25.25 million in FY26–27 and roughly $19.2 million in FY28–29, and noted several provisions lack separate fiscal notes (for example, new special license plates).
MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger, testifying for the department, asked the committee to include several MnDOT priorities in the omnibus vehicle: bridge inspection language, authorization for public‑private truck‑parking partnerships, passenger‑rail provisions and flexibility for active‑transportation training programs. She asked the committee to consider extending a $3 million trunk‑highway appropriation to June 30, 2029, for travel‑demand modeling and warned against overly prescriptive corridor lists that could restrict the department’s ability to pursue federal rail funding.
"I respectfully request to consider adding the following items to the omnibus bill the extension of a $3,000,000 trunk highway fund appropriation to 06/30/2029 for implementation and development of statewide and regional travel demand modeling," Daubenberger said.
Committee members pressed MnDOT and raised the greenhouse‑gas offset requirements that take effect January 1, 2027. Senator Jasinski said he’s hearing from county and city engineers that the offset calculations are driving large cost increases — he cited a claim of a 20–50% jump in project costs — and urged caution in the timeline for implementation. Daubenberger said MnDOT can assess greenhouse‑gas emissions for expansion projects and is developing a portfolio approach for offsets with local partners, but said more work is needed.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jake Jacobson also testified, describing operational deficiency requests for State Patrol responses to recent large events and thanking lawmakers for support on line‑of‑duty death benefit changes. Jacobson said the department implemented weapon‑screening at the Capitol this session and noted the toll on public‑safety personnel: "Since my time as commissioner, since 01/02/2023, I've been to 30 plus funerals for public safety members across the state of Minnesota," he told the committee.
Chair Marty and Senator Dibble told members that some language from the transportation omnibus will move into a separate safety and security appropriations bill to be taken up after floor session; the remaining policy provisions will be handled later, either on the floor or in other vehicles. With that plan, the committee laid Senate File 39 88 over for action later.
The committee also asked staff to prepare a running committee engrossment so members and the public can see adopted language as the package is parceled into different vehicles. The committee recessed until after floor session and said it will reconvene in Room G15 to take up the safety and security bill and related items.
