Legislative Session number- 84

Bill Name: SF1980

3E Relating to the organization, operation and financing of state government,
appropriating money for transportation purposes

ARTICLE 1 - APPROPRIATIONS,
TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER AGENCIES

Providing a summary of appropriations by
fund; reducing the appropriation to the commissioner of transportation (DOT) for
state road construction, requiring a certain other appropriation to be used to
construct concrete or cable median safety barriers on interstate or trunk
highways in the metropolitan area; appropriating money to the commissioner of
public safety for the state patrol, for driver and vehicle services and for
traffic safety, requiring use for traffic and pedestrian safety; requiring a
certain fund transfer

ARTICLE 2 - CAPITAL PROJECTS

Appropriating money to
the commissioner of transportation (DOT) and authorizing the issuance of state
bonds for repair and renovation of the exterior of the department building, for
construction of the Mankato headquarters building and for certain smaller
department capital projects

ARTICLE 3 - PUBLIC SAFETY ACTIVITIES, FEES,
ACCOUNTS

Authorizing the commissioner of administration to approve the
performance of mail related functions by outside agencies under the central mail
handling unit under certain conditions; modifying certain vehicle registration
tax and fee provisions and certain fee or tax deposit requirements of the
commissioner of public safety; increasing fees for motor vehicle transfers and
for certain driver and vehicle services; reducing drivers license and
identification (ID) card fees and imposing an additional filing fee and certain
repeat examination fees; modifying or clarifying certain special license plate
and motor vehicle dealer license provisions; providing for expedited driver and
vehicle services and for record copies, fees; modifying certain procedures for
the appointment of deputy registrars; creating the driver and vehicle services
operating accounts in the special revenue fund for the deposit of certain fees
and providing annual appropriations from the accounts to the commissioner for
driver and vehicle services administration purposes; making certain technical
and clarifying amendments; specifying certain reference change or correction and
renumbering instructions to the revisor of statutes; repealing the definition of
off peak hours for metropolitan transit purposes and the bicycle registration
program

ARTICLE 4 - MISCELLANEOUS FINANCE POLICY

Requiring the department of
transportation to include on business panels of retail businesses selling E85
gasoline a symbol or logo indicating the availability of E85 at the business;
authorizing the commissioner of the DOT to bill highway operations units of the
department and local road authorities for the costs of a centrally managed
highway sign program, requiring the deposit of receipts in a special account to
be established in the trunk highway fund for payment of the costs; establishing
county and municipal principal arterial accounts in the county state aid highway
and municipal state aid street funds respectively for commissioner grants to
counties and cities to assist in paying costs of capital improvement projects on
county or municipal state aid highways or streets classified as principal
arterials and authorizing use of money in the flexible highway account for
construction and maintenance of principal arterial roads or streets;
establishing a rural road safety account in the county state aid highway fund
for commissioner grants to counties to assist in paying for capital improvement
projects on county state aid highways intended to reduce traffic crashes,
deaths, injuries and property damage; designating the interstate bridge between
the cities of Moorhead and Fargo, North Dakota as the veterans memorial bridge;
increasing the county state aid highway fund set aside for department
administrative costs; expanding the definition of recreational vehicle
combination for permit free operation purposes to pickup trucks hauling
equestrian equipment and supplies; modifying certain highway gross weight limits
for vehicles hauling raw or unfinished forest products; authorizing the issuance
of special permits for the movement of manufactured storage buildings and for
the hauling of certain special paper products; exempting housing and
redevelopment authority (HRA) facilities built to facilitate the operation of
public transit from competitive bidding requirements; authorizing the
metropolitan council to enter into agreements with cities or
towns to join the
metropolitan transit taxing district, specifying certain
agreement content
requirements and certain property tax levy options;
prohibiting the
commissioner from implementing a new formula for allocating federal
transportation funds resulting in a reduction of construction district receipts
and requiring the commissioner to study and report to the legislature by a
certain date on alternative methods of funding local road maintenance and
reconstruction, specifying certain study requirements; requiring and providing
for the commissioner to develop and implement a town road sign replacement
program, authorizing the establishment of a pilot program; requiring the
commissioner to place directional signs for the Northwestern health sciences
university in certain locations on interstate highways 494 and 35W and to erect
a specific service sign on trunk highway #52 for a certain retail establishment
blocked by a noise wall; prohibiting the commissioner from requiring the city of
Willmar to repay the state airports fund for acquisition costs of land
previously used for aviation purposes; suspending the automobile insurance
coverage verification sampling program, requiring reinstatement of suspended
drivers licenses and refund of reinstatement fees, dismissal of charges, purging
of violation notations on driving records and vacation of convictions,
prohibiting insurers from increasing premiums based on violations under the
program, requiring remediations, requiring the commissioner of public safety to
report to the legislature by a certain date with recommendations for a vehicle
insurance verification program identifying and reducing the number of uninsured
motorists, providing for funding of the requirements; repealing certain rules
governing regular route common and petroleum carriers

ARTICLE 5 - SPECIAL
PLATES

Modifying and clarifying certain provisions providing for the issuance
of special motor vehicle license plates; prohibiting the charging of license
plate replacement fees for special plates issued to medal of honor recipients or
former prisoners of war; authorizing the issuance of special firefighter
motorcycle license plates, of personalized license plates for veterans and of
special veterans license plates for a certain additional type of pickup truck
and imposing a temporary surcharge on the issuance of the special plates for
deposit in the highway user tax distribution fund; providing for the issuance of
special veterans license plates for recipients of the Iraq or Afghanistan
campaign medals or the global war on terrorism expeditionary or service medals
and for disabled veterans and for the issuance of special support our troops and
knights of columbus member license plates

ARTICLE 6 - TRANSPORTATION
FINANCE

Establishing a multimodal transportation fund to be used for
multimodal surface transportation projects and purposes; modifying the county
state aid highway fund apportionment formula, providing for the calculation and
apportionment of the excess sum and the apportionment sum; modifying the
imposition of the motor vehicle registration tax on passenger automobiles in
subsequent years; phasing in increases in the gasoline and special fuels tax
rates; modifying the distribution of motor vehicle sales tax proceeds to the
highway user tax distribution fund; establishing a right-of-way advance
acquisition loan account in the transportation revolving loan fund for loans to
the state, counties, cities and towns to purchase property within the
rights-of-way of state trunk highways, restrictions, specifying certain factors
to be considered by the commissioner of transportation (DOT) in evaluating
projects to be certified for the loans and prescribing the purchase procedure;
appropriating money to the commissioner and authorizing the issuance of state
transportation bonds to construct trunk highways and state roads and for county
and municipal state aids; establishing the general fund budget base for
metropolitan and greater Minnesota transit for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 at
zero
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