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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2022 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2022

To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the minimum allocation 
formula under the Federal-aid highway program, to provide reimbursement 
to each State with respect to which the highway users in the State paid 
into the Highway Trust Fund an amount in excess of the amount received 
   by the State from the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 1996

Mr. Thurmond (for himself, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Coats, and 
  Mr. Helms) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to modify the minimum allocation 
formula under the Federal-aid highway program, to provide reimbursement 
to each State with respect to which the highway users in the State paid 
into the Highway Trust Fund an amount in excess of the amount received 
   by the State from the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Surface Transportation Equity Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. MINIMUM ALLOCATION.

    (a) Fiscal Year 1998 and Thereafter.--Section 157(a) of title 23, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Fiscal year 1998 and thereafter.--In fiscal year 1998 
        and each fiscal year thereafter, on October 1, or as soon as 
        possible thereafter, the Secretary, after making the 
        allocations described in section 3 of the Surface 
        Transportation Equity Act of 1996, shall allocate among the 
        States amounts sufficient to ensure that a State's percentage 
        of the total apportionments in each fiscal year and allocations 
        for the prior fiscal year from funds made available out of the 
        Highway Trust Fund is not less than 100 percent of the 
        percentage of estimated tax payments attributable to highway 
        users in the State paid into the Highway Trust Fund in the 
        latest fiscal year for which data are available.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 157(a)(4) of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended by striking the paragraph designation and all 
that follows before ``on October 1'' and inserting the following:
            ``(4) Fiscal years 1992-1997.--In each of fiscal years 1992 
        through 1997,''.

SEC. 3. DONOR STATE REIMBURSEMENT.

    (a) Allocation.--Over the period consisting of fiscal years 1998 
through 2002, the Secretary of Transportation shall proportionally 
allocate to each eligible State described in subsection (b) the total 
amount of the excess described in subsection (b).
    (b) Eligible States.--For the purpose of this section, an eligible 
State is a State with respect to which the highway users in the State 
paid into the Highway Trust Fund, during the period consisting of July 
1, 1957, through the end of the latest fiscal year for which data are 
available, an amount in excess of the amount received by the State from 
the Highway Trust Fund during that period.
    (c) Formula.--For each fiscal year, the Secretary of Transportation 
shall allocate the amounts made available under subsection (a) for the 
fiscal year in such a way as to bring each successive eligible State, 
or eligible States, with the lowest dollar return on dollar paid into 
the Highway Trust Fund during the period described in subsection (b) up 
to the highest common return on dollar paid that can be funded with the 
amounts made available under subsection (a).
    (d) Applicability of Chapter 1 of Title 23.--Funds allocated under 
this section shall be available for obligation in the same manner and 
for the same purposes as if the funds were apportioned for the surface 
transportation program under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, 
except that the funds shall remain available until expended.
    (e) Administrative Expenses.--
            (1) Deduction.--For each fiscal year, prior to making 
        allocations under this section, the Secretary of Transportation 
        shall deduct such amount, not to exceed 3\3/4\ percent of the 
        amount made available under subsection (f) for the fiscal year, 
        as the Secretary determines is necessary to pay the 
        administrative expenses of carrying out this section. Amounts 
        so deducted shall remain available until expended.
            (2) Consideration of prior deductions.--In determining each 
        amount to be deducted under paragraph (1), the Secretary of 
        Transportation shall take into consideration the unexpended 
        balance of any amounts deducted for prior fiscal years under 
        paragraph (1).
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this section.
                                 <all>
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