House lawmakers review transportation package with billions in funding, tougher penalties for speeding drivers

Funding for roads and runways, bridges and trains. And possibly securing driver’s licenses online and stiffer penalties for speeding. You’ll find that in the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee’s budget bill.

Seven separate funds would receive a total of $5.38 billion in transportation appropriations in fiscal year 2026 and another $4.49 billion in fiscal year 2027 under a delete-all amendment to HF2438 reviewed by the committee Thursday.

Committee action is expected Friday morning, with the bill likely getting sent to the House Ways and Means Committee.

"This is not an easy process. We're in a unique situation with a balanced House, but we have a bill that has a lot for stakeholders in the transportation world," said Rep. Jon Koznick (R-Lakeville), who co-chairs the committee with Rep. Erin Koegel (DFL-Spring Lake Park).

Policy

Among the policy items in the amendment are:

• making online drivers’ license renewals possible;
• adding driving 35 mph over the speed limit to reasons for license revocation;
• creating an Empowering Small Minnesota Communities program;
• making changes to the transportation impact assessment and mitigation account;
• raising the surcharge on all-electric vehicles;
• extending temporary vehicle permits for nonresident buyers to 60 days;
• new requirements for applicants for dealer licenses;
• changes in requirements upon unpaid insurance vehicle claims;
• changing seat belt requirements for all-terrain vehicles;
• increasing examination fees if someone fails to appear for a scheduled road test;
• establishing a transportation project activity portal; and
• creating a resilient pavement program.

Appropriations and revenue

Direct appropriations for fiscal year 2026 would include $4.85 billion for the Department of Transportation, $297.07 million for the Department of Public Safety, and $124.96 million for the Metropolitan Council.

Department of Transportation funding would include: $3.26 billion for state roads, $1.4 billion for local roads, $134 million for agency management, and $63 million for multimodal systems.

[MORE: View the spreadsheet]

Unlike most omnibus finance bills, the one dealing with transportation also has a revenue component involved, in that there are specific taxes that earmark their proceeds for transportation projects. Projected revenues for fiscal year 2026 total $1.07 billion, $1.05 billion of it from the Trunk Highway Fund.

So, while transportation showed up on the House Budget Resolution as having a General Fund target of zero, the committee is entrusted with making recommendations on how several funds should be disbursed, including the Trunk Highway Fund, County State-Aid Highway Fund, Municipal State-Aid Street Fund, State Airports Fund, and Highway User Tax Distribution Fund.

Some of the bill’s biggest ticket items for fiscal year 2026 funding include:

• $2.14 billion for state road construction;
• $1.11 billion for county state-aid highways;
• $436.8 million for state roads operations and maintenance;
• $296.57 million for highway debt service;
• $289.84 million for state roads program delivery;
• $282.37 million for municipal state-aid streets;
• $197.52 million for passenger rail activities;
• $146.88 million to the State Patrol for patrolling highways; and
• $112.51 million to the Metropolitan Council for such special transportation services as Metro Mobility and Metro Move.

— Session Daily writer Margaret Stevens contributed to this story.