1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public safety; providing for emergency 
  1.3             expenditures for pothole relief; appropriating money. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [APPROPRIATION FOR POTHOLE RELIEF AFFECTING 
  1.6   PUBLIC SAFETY.] 
  1.7      Subdivision 1.  [POTHOLE RELIEF.] (a) A special pothole 
  1.8   relief appropriation is authorized.  Funding under this section 
  1.9   must be coordinated insofar as possible, subject to immediate 
  1.10  public safety concerns, with emergency federal funding, if any, 
  1.11  for the same or similar purposes.  Funds are available for the 
  1.12  benefit of roads, streets, and highways under the jurisdiction 
  1.13  of counties, towns, and statutory or home rule charter cities 
  1.14  for filling potholes because other resources are depleted and 
  1.15  because potholes damage vehicles, affect vehicle control, and 
  1.16  threaten public safety.  
  1.17     (b) The commissioner of transportation shall distribute the 
  1.18  money appropriated under section 2 according to need documented 
  1.19  by the local unit of government and based on proportional 
  1.20  vehicle miles traveled on each system, with the maximum 
  1.21  percentage of the appropriation allowed for each system as 
  1.22  follows: 
  1.23     (1) 59.9 percent for county highways; 
  1.24     (2) 34.2 percent for city streets; and 
  2.1      (3) 5.9 percent for town roads.  
  2.2      Subd. 2.  [DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.] Within 30 days of the 
  2.3   effective date of this act, the commissioner of transportation 
  2.4   shall notify local governments of the availability of pothole 
  2.5   relief funds and of the information that must be submitted to 
  2.6   obtain funds.  Within 30 days of receiving notice from the 
  2.7   commissioner, local government units that wish to obtain pothole 
  2.8   relief funds must apply to the commissioner for the funds.  The 
  2.9   commissioner may require documentation of costs reported by 
  2.10  local governments. 
  2.11     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.12     $20,000,000 in fiscal year 1997 is appropriated from the 
  2.13  budget reserve in the general fund to the commissioner of public 
  2.14  safety to be spent as provided in section 1, except that the 
  2.15  commissioner may use necessary funds for administration of this 
  2.16  program. 
  2.17     Sec. 3.  [NO PRECEDENT SET.] 
  2.18     Funding by the state for costs that would otherwise be a 
  2.19  local fiscal responsibility is not to be considered a precedent 
  2.20  for any future state funding for pothole relief.  
  2.21     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.22     This act is effective the day following final enactment.