House Republicans are overhauling a bill and amending it to pass along $10 million dollars to counties for help with road maintenance.
Republican Representative Caleb Finck led the charge on getting the funding formula in place. He brought a similar bill earlier this year, but it was voted down.
Now, Finck says the formula gives deference to bridge decking, gravel roads and then population.
“Specifically, in this piece of legislation, it is aimed at rural counties,” Finck says. “There’s some emphasis put on gravel roads. Like I talked about on the floor, those of us that live on gravel roads—we need those dollars out there to get those gravel roads back into play because those are our farm to market roads.”
The $10 million is one-time money, but the intent is for a funding formula to stay in place.
House Democrats, along with one Republican, voted against the bill. Democrats are voicing concerns about overhauling a bill in the last legislative week. They’re concerned about the dollars getting taken away from other priorities talked about this session.
Lawmakers have until Thursday to craft and pass a budget.