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Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 1 and 2 (page 1, lines 2 to 16 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §1807, sub-§§4 and 5, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 681, §1, are amended to read:
 
4. Program funding cap.   The annual amount available for distribution under this section may not exceed 2.5% of the annual funding dedicated for the Urban-Rural Initiative Program. All funds not distributed each year under this section lapse to the Highway Fund.
 
5. Distribution of funds.  Beginning July 1, 2003, theThe department shall increase an Urban-Rural Initiative Program payment for a municipality that applies under subsection 1 on a dollar-for-dollar basis. After the total of qualifying applications for reimbursement exceeds the annual amount available for distribution provided under subsection 4, funds must be apportioned according to the amount of each municipality's increase of qualifying expenditures, ridership or other factors determined by the departmenttransferred from the State Transit, Aviation and Rail Transportation Fund established under section 4210-B to provide reimbursement to a municipality for eligible expenses up to an annual limit of the lesser of the amount of such expenses and $3,000,000.’
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
 
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the minority report, keeps the cap removed by the bill on the annual amount available for distribution to an eligible municipality at 2.5% of the annual funding dedicated for the Urban-Rural Initiative Program. The amendment also provides for full funding of the Department of Transportation's transit bonus payment program by authorizing the transfer of funding from the State Transit, Aviation and Rail Transportation Fund to provide full reimbursement to a municipality for eligible expenses under the transit bonus payment program. The amendment also provides that, if full reimbursement is not provided to a municipality for eligible expenses, the reimbursement amount is capped at $3,000,000 annually.