HB 924 -- Transportation Funding

Co-Sponsors:  Wiggins, Kreider, Koller, Crump, Foley, Bowman,
Relford

This bill is a comprehensive package relating to transportation
funding.

The bill:

(1)  Increases the state sales and use tax on tangible personal
property including the purchase and lease of motor vehicles,
trailers, boats, and outboard motors from 4% to 4.75%;

(2) Creates a State Sales Tax Transportation Fund into which
revenues from the additional .75% sales and use tax will be
deposited.  The distribution of this revenue is as follows:

(a)  15% will be for public transit systems, with 75% going to
systems in municipalities having a population of 50,000 or
greater and 25% to municipalities under 50,000;

(b)  5% will be for multimodal transportation projects;

(c)  30% will go toward the rehabilitation of the interstate
system with 2% of the allotted funds to be used for paying the
cost of issuing state road bonds and for the cost of toll road
projects; and

(d)  50% will be for the state highway system with 2% of the
allotted funds to be used for paying the cost of issuing state
road bonds and for the cost of toll road projects;

(3)  Increases the state motor fuel tax from 17 to 19 cents per
gallon;

(4)  Reduces the amount of appropriations from the State
Highways and Transportation Department Fund to agencies for any
purpose not related directly to highway construction and
maintenance by one fifth of the Fiscal Year 2001 appropriations
until the appropriations in 2006 are zero;

(5)  Requires the state to maintain 40 center line miles of
arterial state highways in the City of St. Louis.  The city will
retain ownership and responsibility for all street lights,
signals, signage, underground right-of-way and utilities, and
right-of-way adjacent to the traveled portion of a highway;

(6)  Allows the Highways and Transportation Commission to enter
into design-build highway project contracts.  Design-build
projects may be used only for construction work greater than 10
miles;

(7)  Lowers the blood alcohol content (BAC) level necessary for
a conviction of driving with excessive BAC from .10 to .08;

(8)  Increases the point penalty for careless and imprudent
driving where aggravating circumstances exist or when an
accident occurs in which any person receives moderate physical
injury.  "Aggravating circumstances" are defined as
circumstances in which any person suffers death or serious
physical injury; and

(9)  Allows law enforcement officers to administer a test to
determine the blood alcohol content of any driver who is
involved in an accident that results in the death of any person
or where a person has been ticketed in an accident resulting in
serious physical injury.

The bill has a referendum clause.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated September 13, 2001 at 2:04 pm