I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1606 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for the establishment 

of a flexibility incentive grant program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2007 

Ms. MATSUI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for the 

establishment of a flexibility incentive grant program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FLEXIBILITY INCENTIVE GRANT PILOT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 5341. Flexibility incentive grant pilot program 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

10 provide incentives to encourage States to establish new 


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1 sources of revenue for public transportation projects and 

2 services and to reward States for creating more flexibility 

3 in the use of their existing transportation funds. 

4 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

5 of Transportation shall establish a flexibility incentive 

6 grant pilot program in accordance with this section. 

7 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may submit appli9 cation to the Secretary for a grant under the section 

10 for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 

11 not later than the August 1 preceding the first day 

12 of such fiscal year. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application of a State for 

14 a grant for a fiscal year under this section shall con15 tain, at a minimum, the aggregate amount that the 

16 State and the counties of the State expended (ex17 cluding amounts from Federal sources) on public 

18 transportation projects and services for each of the 

19 State’s 2 fiscal years preceding the date of the appli20 cation, together with such supporting documentation 

21 as the Secretary may require by regulation. 

22 ‘‘(d) DETERMINATIONS BY THE SECRETARY.—Not 

23 later than September 1 of each of calendar years 2008 

24 through 2011, the Secretary shall determine for each 

25 State that submitted an application for a grant under subVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:11 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1606.IH H1606

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1 section (c) for the fiscal year beginning on September 30th 

2 of that calendar year if the State and the counties of the 

3 State increased the aggregate amount that the State and 

4 such counties expended (excluding amounts from Federal 

5 sources) on public transportation projects and services 

6 from the State’s second fiscal year preceding such Sep7 tember 1 to the State’s first fiscal year preceding such 

8 September 1, the amount of such increase, and the per9 centage of such increase over the State’s second preceding 

10 fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘(e) GRANTS FOR INCREASED PUBLIC TRANSPOR12 TATION FUNDING.— 

13 ‘‘(1) STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF 10 PER14 CENT OR MORE.—Subject to paragraph (2) and sub15 section (g)— 

16 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall make a grant for 

17 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011 to each 

18 State— 

19 ‘‘(i) whose percentage increase, as de20 termined by the Secretary under sub21 section (d) with respect to such fiscal year, 

22 in expenditures for public transportation 

23 projects and services over the preceding 

24 fiscal year of the State was 10 percent or 

25 more; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) whose aggregate expenditures for 

2 such projects and services in the State’s 

3 preceding fiscal year was $1,000,000,000 

4 or less, as determined by the Secretary 

5 under subsection (d). 

6 ‘‘(B) the amount of the grant shall be 

7 equal to the increase in the aggregate amount 

8 that the State and the counties of the State ex9 pended (excluding amounts from Federal 

10 sources) on public transportation projects and 

11 services from the second preceding fiscal year of 

12 the State to the first preceding fiscal year of 

13 the State, as determined by the Secretary under 

14 subsection (d). 

15 ‘‘(2) LARGE STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF 1

16 PERCENT OR MORE.—Subject to subsection (h), for 

17 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011, the Sec18 retary shall make a grant of $50,000,000 to each 

19 State— 

20 ‘‘(A) whose percentage increase, as deter21 mined by the Secretary under subsection (d) 

22 with respect to such fiscal year, in expenditures 

23 for public transportation projects and services 

24 over the preceding fiscal year of the State was 

25 1 percent or more; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) whose aggregate expenditures for 

2 such projects and services in the State’s pre3 ceding fiscal year was more than 

4 $1,000,000,000, as determined by the Secretary 

5 under subsection (d). 

6 ‘‘(f) STATES CREATING FLEXIBLE TRANSPORTATION

7 FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) NEW DEDICATED SOURCE OF REVENUE.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection 

10 (g), for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011, 

11 the Secretary shall make a grant of 

12 $10,000,000 to each State that established in 

13 the first preceding fiscal year of the State a 

14 dedicated source of revenue for carrying out 

15 only public transportation projects and services 

16 that the Secretary— 

17 ‘‘(i) determines was not in effect in 

18 the second preceding fiscal year of the 

19 State; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) projects will result in an increase 

21 of 10 percent in State funds available for 

22 expenditure on such projects and services 

23 within 2 years after the date of such imple24 mentation. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEDICATED SOURCE OF REVENUES

2 DEFINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

3 term ‘dedicated source of revenue’ may include 

4 the dedication of a State motor fuels tax or 

5 sales tax, interest on existing highway funds, 

6 motor vehicle excise tax, tolls, loans to be made 

7 out of highway funds, and such other sources of 

8 revenue as the Secretary determines. 

9 ‘‘(2) UNRESTRICTED USE OF HIGHWAY

10 FUNDS.—Subject to subsection (h), for each of fiscal 

11 years 2008 through 2011, the Secretary shall make 

12 a grant of $10,000,000 to each State that in the 

13 preceding fiscal year of the State amended State law 

14 or the State constitution to allow funds that were re15 stricted for highway purposes only to be used for 

16 public transportation projects and services as well as 

17 highway purposes. 

18 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION FOR STATES ELIGIBILITY FOR

19 MULTIPLE GRANTS.—If the Secretary determines that a 

20 State is eligible for a grant under more than one of sub21 sections (e)(1), (e)(2), (f)(1), and (f)(2) for a fiscal year, 

22 the Secretary may only make the grant to the State that 

23 is for the greatest amount the State is eligible for under 

24 such subsections. 


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1 ‘‘(h) USE OF GRANTS.—A State may obligate funds 

2 granted to it under this section for any project or activity 

3 eligible for assistance under title 23 or chapter 53. 

4 ‘‘(i) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise 

5 provided in this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) a grant under this section being used for 

7 a public transportation project or activity shall be 

8 subject to all of the terms and conditions to which 

9 a grant made under section 5307 is subject; and 

10 ‘‘(2) a grant under this section being used for 

11 a highway project or activity shall be subject to all 

12 of the terms and conditions that would be applicable 

13 to such project or activity if such project or activity 

14 were being carried out under title 23, United States 

15 Code. 

16 ‘‘(j) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

17 cost of a project or activity funded under this section shall 

18 be 100 percent. 

19 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011 $250,000,000. 

22 Such sums shall remain available until expended. 

23 ‘‘(l) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Not later than 5 years 

24 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) conduct a study to evaluate the pilot pro2 gram authorized by this section; and 

3 ‘‘(2) submit to the Committee on Transpor4 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent5 atives and the Committee on Banking, Housing and 

6 Urban Affairs of the Senate a report describing the 

7 results of the study.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

9 such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

‘‘5341. Flexibility incentive grant pilot program’’. 

Æ 


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