House approves transportation operations budget, declaring Senate File 2478 passed

The Iowa House voted to pass Senate File 2478, the transportation operations budget, declaring the bill approved by a constitutional majority.

Representative Bossman, speaking for the Woodbury delegation, said the measure funds operations at the Department of Transportation and described funding sources including vehicle registrations, gas tax revenues and transfers from the road use tax and primary road fund. He highlighted project comparisons, saying a garage in Waterloo was funded at about $18.5 million last year while a new garage in Alton (Sioux County) is about $13 million this year, and he credited falling equipment costs with roughly $17 million in savings.

"This is the transportation operations budget," Representative Bossman said in opening remarks, and later moved that the bill be read for the last time and placed on its passage. A representative from Scott County said the budget is "reasonable" and urged caucus support.

The clerk read the bill caption and took a roll-call vote. The clerk recorded multiple aye votes, including Representative Wilson, Representative Zabner, Representative Wolf and Representative Gustaf; the official tally announced on the floor was 83 ayes, 1 no and 16 absent or not voting. The chair declared the bill passed and the title was agreed to.

After passage the House directed that the bill be messaged to the Senate.

The bill text as read references allocations and uses of money from the road use tax and the primary road fund for transportation and related infrastructure appropriations to the Department of Transportation. Specific project appropriations cited on the floor included the Waterloo and Alton garages and cited equipment cost savings. The bill will proceed to the Senate per the message order recorded in the session.