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2005 SESSION

053514328
HOUSE BILL NO. 2596
Offered January 12, 2005
Prefiled January 12, 2005
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 33.1-221.1:1.1, 46.2-214.1, and 58.1-2425 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Rail Enhancement Fund; fees for release of information by Department of Motor Vehicles; disposition of a portion of the motor vehicle rental tax.
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Patron-- May
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 33.1-221.1:1.1, 46.2-214.1, and 58.1-2425 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 33.1-221.1:1.1. Rail Enhancement Fund.

A. The General Assembly declares it to be in the public interest that railway preservation and development of railway transportation facilities are an important element of a balanced transportation system of the Commonwealth for freight and passengers and further declares it to be in the public interest that the retention, maintenance, improvement and development of the railways are essential to the Commonwealth's continued economic growth, vitality, and competitiveness in national and world markets, and there is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Railway Preservation and Development Rail Enhancement Fund, hereafter referred to as "the Fund."

B. The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and shall consist of such funds from such sources as shall be set forth in the appropriation act and shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely as provided in this section. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Executive Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation or the Executive Director's designee.

C. To fulfill this purpose, there shall be funding set forth each year in the budget bill and appropriated by the General Assembly in the Rail Assistance Program of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. These funds shall be used by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to administer a Rail Preservation and Development Program for the purposes described in subsection A. Furthermore, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall include an annual allocation for such purpose in its allocation of transportation revenues.

D. The Executive Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall administer and expend or commit, subject to the approval of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Fund for acquiring, leasing, and/or improving railways or assisting other appropriate entities to acquire, lease, or improve railways for freight and/or passenger rail transportation purposes whenever the Board shall have determined that such acquisition, lease, and/or improvement is for the common good of a region of the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth as a whole. The Executive Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation may consult with other agencies or their designated representatives concerning projects to be undertaken under this section.

E. Tracks and facilities constructed and property and equipment purchased under this section shall be the property of the Commonwealth for the useful life of the project as determined by the Executive Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation and shall be made available for use by all common carriers using the railway system to which they connect under trackage rights agreements between the partiesProjects undertaken pursuant to this section shall be limited to those the Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall have determined will result in public benefits to the Commonwealth that are equal to or greater than the investment of funds under this section.

§ 46.2-214.1. Additional charge for information supplied by Department.

Beginning July 1, 2002, in addition to the fee charged pursuant to § 46.2-214, the Commissioner shall charge $2 for furnishing information under this title, but no fee shall be charged to any official, including court and police officials, of the Commonwealth or any county, city, or town of the Commonwealth, or to court, police, and licensing officials of other states or of the federal government, provided that the information requested is for official use.

All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the state treasury and credited to the Rail Enhancement Fund established by § 33.1-221.1:1.1.

§ 58.1-2425. Disposition of revenues.

A. All funds collected hereunder by the Commissioner shall be forthwith paid into the state treasury. Except as otherwise provided in this section, these funds shall constitute special funds within the Commonwealth Transportation Fund. Any balances remaining in these funds at the end of the year shall be available for use in subsequent years for the purposes set forth in this chapter, and any interest income on such funds shall accrue to these funds. The revenue so derived, after refunds have been deducted, is hereby allocated for the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of highways and the regulation of traffic thereon and for no other purpose. However, (i) all funds collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter from manufactured homes, as defined in § 46.2-100, shall be distributed to the city, town, or county wherein such manufactured home is to be situated as a dwelling; (ii) all funds collected from the additional tax imposed by subdivision A 4 of § 58.1-2402 on the rental of daily rental vehicles shall be distributed quarterly to the city, town, or county wherein such vehicle was delivered to the rentee; (iii) effective January 1, 1987, an amount equivalent to the net additional revenues generated by enactments of the 1986 Special Session of the Virginia General Assembly which amended §§ 46.2-694, 46.2-697, 58.1-2401, 58.1-2402 and this section shall be distributed to and paid into the Transportation Trust Fund, a special fund within the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, and are hereby appropriated to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for transportation needs; (iv) except as otherwise provided in clause (iii) of this sentence, all moneys collected from the tax on the gross proceeds from the rental in Virginia of any motor vehicle pursuant to subdivision A 3 of § 58.1-2402 at the tax rate in effect on December 31, 1986, shall be paid by the Commissioner into the state treasury and shall be set aside in a special fund within the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to be used to meet the expenses of the Department of Motor Vehicles paid into the Rail Enhancement Fund established by § 33.1-221.1:1.1; and (v) all additional revenues resulting from the fee imposed under subdivision A 5 of § 58.1-2402 as enacted by the 2004 Session of the General Assembly shall be used to pay the debt service on the bonds issued by the Virginia Public Building Authority for the Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) for the Department of State Police pursuant to the authority granted by the 2004 Session of the General Assembly.

B. As provided in subsection A of § 58.1-638, of the funds becoming part of the Transportation Trust Fund pursuant to clause (iii) of subsection A of this section, an aggregate of 4.2 percent shall be set aside as the Commonwealth Port Fund; an aggregate of 2.4 percent shall be set aside as the Commonwealth Airport Fund; and an aggregate of 14.5 percent in fiscal year 1998-1999 and 14.7 percent in fiscal year 1999-2000 and thereafter shall be set aside as the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund.