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Committee advances $7 billion Transportation Cabinet operating budget with local grant pools and program changes
Summary
The Senate Transportation Committee passed House Bill 501, a roughly $7 billion biennial operating budget for the Transportation Cabinet that includes $119 million for paving and bridge projects, a $24 million city/county grant pool, LAR allocations and operational changes such as new driver’s license branches and a vision‑testing program.
The Senate Transportation Committee voted to pass House Bill 501, the Transportation Cabinet operating budget for the upcoming biennium, which the chair said authorizes about $7 billion to operate the cabinet and fund the road plan.
Chair Hickden summarized key allocations: roughly $119 million for paving and bridge improvements, a $24 million pooled grant for improvement or paving projects split evenly between cities and counties (described as $12 million for cities and $12 million for counties with matching requirements), and $100,000 grant pools allocated per county and per city subject to matching funds. The chair also said larger counties such as Jefferson County would receive higher allocations.
The bill includes $70 million in Local Assistance Road (LAR) funds to cover projects that had previously been omitted and anticipates an additional $71 million in 2028. Sponsors said the plan was intentionally not overprogrammed so every project in the plan should be constructed and finished barring unforeseen problems.
Operational items in the bill would fund three new driver's license branch offices (listed in the transcript as Barstown, Litzfield and a Jefferson County/Hirsborne location), establish a vision‑testing program that public libraries could provide using Transportation Cabinet equipment and training so people could renew licenses online while at the library, permit certain CDL medical testing to be done locally by a physician charging the contract price, suspend design‑build caps, and require a report on excess and surplus property. The bill also includes a July 1, 2027 date tied to suspending routine work‑from‑home rules while allowing secretary exemptions.
The committee adopted a committee substitute, voted, and House Bill 501 passed the committee.
