SF1972

This bill, S.F. No. 1972, amends Minnesota Statutes section 161.045 to specify permissible uses of funds from the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund and the Trunk Highway Fund. It defines "highway purposes" to include construction, improvement, maintenance, and operations of highways, as well as multimodal infrastructure related to transit, active transportation, and greenhouse gas reduction within highway rights-of-way.

The bill restricts expenditures from these funds to highway-related purposes and prohibits their use for various non-highway related expenses. Prohibited expenditures include funding for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension laboratory, Explore Minnesota Tourism kiosks, driver education programs, emergency medical services, the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, and personnel costs for the governor’s office. Additionally, funding restrictions apply to programs such as the Office of Aeronautics, the Office of Transit and Active Transportation, the Office of Passenger Rail, and public electric vehicle infrastructure, among others.

The restrictions apply not only to the specified programs and entities but also to any successor programs that serve similar functions.