1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to highways; dedicating 30 percent of 
  1.3             revenues from the motor vehicle sales tax to a major 
  1.4             projects account in the trunk highway fund; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 297B.09, subdivision 
  1.6             1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.7             chapter 161. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [161.042] [MAJOR PROJECTS ACCOUNT.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [ACCOUNT CREATED.] A major projects account 
  1.11  is created in the trunk highway fund.  The fund consists of 
  1.12  money deposited in the fund under section 297B.09, subdivision 
  1.13  1, and interest thereon. 
  1.14     Subd. 2.  [EXPENDITURES FROM ACCOUNT.] Money in the major 
  1.15  projects account may be spent only for matching federal funds 
  1.16  for major trunk highway projects as defined under subdivision 
  1.17  3.  The commissioner shall submit to the legislature a plan of 
  1.18  expenditures from the account, with costs identified for each 
  1.19  highway project included in the plan, as part of the 
  1.20  department's biennial budget. 
  1.21     Subd. 3.  [DEFINITION.] For purposes of this section a 
  1.22  "major trunk highway project" is a project that the commissioner 
  1.23  determines: 
  1.24     (1) has a total cost of more than $100,000,000 or a total 
  1.25  cost that exceeds the average annual highway improvement budget 
  1.26  over the most recent five previous years for the department of 
  2.1   transportation construction district in which the project is 
  2.2   located; 
  2.3      (2) requires not less than five years to plan and 
  2.4   construct; and 
  2.5      (3) is a critical element of the transportation system of 
  2.6   its region and the state. 
  2.7      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 297B.09, 
  2.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.9      Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL FUND SHARE.] (a) Money collected 
  2.10  and received under this chapter must be deposited in the state 
  2.11  treasury and credited to the general fund.  The amounts 
  2.12  collected and received shall be credited as provided in this 
  2.13  subdivision, and transferred from the general fund on July 15 
  2.14  and February 15 of each fiscal year.  The commissioner of 
  2.15  finance must make each transfer based upon the actual receipts 
  2.16  of the preceding six calendar months and include the interest 
  2.17  earned during that six-month period.  The commissioner of 
  2.18  finance may establish a quarterly or other schedule providing 
  2.19  for more frequent payments to the transit assistance fund if the 
  2.20  commissioner determines it is necessary or desirable to provide 
  2.21  for the cash flow needs of the recipients of money from the 
  2.22  transit assistance fund.  
  2.23     (b) Twenty-five percent of the money collected and received 
  2.24  under this chapter after June 30, 1990, and before July 1, 1991, 
  2.25  must be transferred to the highway user tax distribution fund 
  2.26  and the transit assistance fund for apportionment as follows:  
  2.27  75 percent must be transferred to the highway user tax 
  2.28  distribution fund for apportionment in the same manner and for 
  2.29  the same purposes as other money in that fund, and the remaining 
  2.30  25 percent of the money must be transferred to the transit 
  2.31  assistance fund to be appropriated to the commissioner of 
  2.32  transportation for transit assistance within the state and to 
  2.33  the metropolitan council.  
  2.34     (c) The distributions under this subdivision to the highway 
  2.35  user tax distribution fund until June 30, 1991, and to the trunk 
  2.36  highway fund thereafter, must be reduced by the amount necessary 
  3.1   to fund the appropriation under section 41A.09, subdivision 1.  
  3.2   For the fiscal years ending June 30, 1988, and June 30, 1989, 
  3.3   the commissioner of finance, before making the transfers 
  3.4   required on July 15 and January 15 of each year, shall estimate 
  3.5   the amount required to fund the appropriation under section 
  3.6   41A.09, subdivision 1, for the six-month period for which the 
  3.7   transfer is being made.  The commissioner shall then reduce the 
  3.8   amount transferred to the highway user tax distribution fund by 
  3.9   the amount of that estimate.  The commissioner shall reduce the 
  3.10  estimate for any six-month period by the amount by which the 
  3.11  estimate for the previous six-month period exceeded the amount 
  3.12  needed to fund the appropriation under section 41A.09, 
  3.13  subdivision 1, for that previous six-month period.  If at any 
  3.14  time during a six-month period in those fiscal years the amount 
  3.15  of reduction in the transfer to the highway user tax 
  3.16  distribution fund is insufficient to fund the appropriation 
  3.17  under section 41A.09, subdivision 1, for that period, the 
  3.18  commissioner shall transfer to the general fund from the highway 
  3.19  user tax distribution fund an additional amount sufficient to 
  3.20  fund the appropriation for that period, but the additional 
  3.21  amount so transferred to the general fund in a six-month period 
  3.22  may not exceed the amount transferred to the highway user tax 
  3.23  distribution fund for that six-month period as follows: 
  3.24     (1) 30 percent must be credited to the major projects 
  3.25  account in the trunk highway fund; and 
  3.26     (2) the remainder must be credited to the general fund. 
  3.27     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.28     Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 1998.