The Appropriations Committee voted to further amend Senate Bill 2012, the Department of Transportation budget, adopting a negotiated package that shifts funds among city grants, county distributions, township allocations and DOT programs, Representative Brandenburg said.

Representative Brandenburg told the committee the revised package increases city grants by roughly $13 million and adds about $8.8 million in city distributions, while township grants and some bridge and DOT line items were reduced. "If you look at those two and compare them, you'll see that the city grants ... we're adding 13,000,000 to the city grants so that we can get back to ... taking care of the cities," Brandenburg said.

Why it matters: committee members said the rebalancing was intended to keep allocations fair across cities, counties and townships while preserving critical programs. Brandenburg and staff described the package as the product of negotiations among multiple members, DOT staff and conferees.

Key changes and trade-offs: committee discussion noted a $370 million versus $380 million comparison for total flexible funds and identified net increases for cities (about $23 million total across grants and distributions) and net reductions for townships (roughly $10 million), a roughly $1.1 million reduction in one DOT line and an $880,000 decrease in bridge funding as presented by Brandenburg. Representative Bosch successfully moved language removing an ordinance-eligibility criterion from grant scoring language; that amendment was combined with the dollar rebalancing.

Process and contingency: Representative Nikki asked whether a proposed 5-cent gas tax increase (the highway distribution fund increase referenced in the bill) could be line-item vetoed by the governor and what the impact would be. Committee members who are conferees said the package depends on conference outcomes and that if the 5-cent gas tax fails or is vetoed, about $70 million would be missing from the package and the difference would need to be found from SIF or other sources. "If the gas tax doesn't happen ... there would be 70,000,000 less," one member said.

Committee action: Representatives Brandenburg and Bosch moved and combined amendments; Representative Bosch seconded the combined motion. The roll call recorded the motion to amend carried (recorded as carried by the committee) and the committee then voted to pass the further-amended Senate Bill 2012 (house version 2012) with a recorded favorable vote. Representative Bridal Berg was named the bill carrier for the floor and conferees were expected to continue negotiations in conference committee.

What was not resolved: Members said conferees will proceed in conference committee and that final outcomes depend on agreement with the Senate and possible executive action. The amendment package did not name a final mechanism to replace gas-tax revenue if the tax fails or is vetoed; members said they would return to that in conference as needed.

Next steps: The bill, as further amended, will go to the floor and then to conference; conferees will continue to refine funding language and distribution details.