In a roll call vote Friday, the Senate unanimously approved the transportation bill on third reading.
The Agency of Transportation’s total budget for fiscal year 2016 is $630 million, which amounts to a $50 million decrease from 2015.
The transportation funding package includes a new measure that establishes a floor on the 2 percent assessment on the retail price of gas that goes to the Transportation Infrastructure Bond, or TIB.
Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said that the body did not make many changes to the bill as it passed the House last month.
One of the biggest changes, he said, was that the Senate restored $1.5 million to fund paving. That amount of money could pave about 30 miles of single lane road, according to Mazza.
The House had cut the $1.5 million as part of an effort to close a $6.6 million shortfall in the budget, caused in part by the falling price of gasoline.
The Senate Transportation Committee restored the paving money to the among recommended by the governor by finding $500,000 in personnel savings at the Agency of Transportation, coupled with savings from delaying some projects until next year.
The Senate accepted one floor amendment before third reading on Friday. The amendment, from Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, directs the agency to evaluate the merits of establishing an adopt-a-highway program to cut down on roadside litter.
The bill will go back to the House, where lawmakers will decide whether to pass it or take it up in conference committee.
