SECOND REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BAKER (25) (Sponsor) AND SHOEMYER (Co-sponsor).
Read 1st time March 31, 2006 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 208.275, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to the coordinating council on special transportation.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 208.275, RSMo, is repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 208.275, 208.280, and 208.282, to read as follows:
208.275. 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms mean:
(1) "Elderly", any person who is sixty years of age or older;
(2) "Handicapped", any person having a physical or mental condition, either permanent or temporary, which would substantially impair ability to operate or utilize available transportation.
2. There is hereby created the "Coordinating Council on Special Transportation" within the Missouri department of transportation. The members of the council shall be: two members of the senate appointed by the president pro tem, who shall be from different political parties; two members of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker, who shall be from different political parties; the assistant for transportation of the Missouri department of transportation, or his designee; the assistant commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education, responsible for special transportation, or his designee; the director of the division of aging of the department of social services, or his designee; the deputy director for mental retardation/developmental disabilities and the deputy director for administration of the department of mental health, or their designees; the executive secretary of the governor's committee on the employment of the handicapped; and seven consumer representatives appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate, four of the consumer representatives shall represent the elderly and three shall represent the handicapped. Two of such three members representing handicapped persons shall represent those with physical handicaps. Consumer representatives appointed by the governor shall serve for terms of three years or until a successor is appointed and qualified. Of the members first selected, two shall be selected for a term of three years, two shall be selected for a term of two years, and three shall be selected for a term of one year. In the event of the death or resignation of any member, his successor shall be appointed to serve for the unexpired period of the term for which such member had been appointed.
3. State agency personnel shall serve on the council without additional appropriations or compensation. The consumer representatives shall serve without compensation except for receiving reimbursement for the reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties on the council from funds appropriated to the department of transportation. Legislative members shall be reimbursed by their respective appointing bodies out of the contingency fund for such body for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
4. Staff for the council shall be provided by the Missouri department of transportation. The department shall designate a special transportation coordinator who shall have had experience in the area of special transportation, as well as such other staff as needed to enable the council to perform its duties.
5. The council shall meet at least quarterly each year and shall elect from its members a chairman and a vice chairman.
6. The coordinating council on special transportation shall:
(1) Recommend and periodically review policies for the coordinated planning and delivery of special transportation when appropriate;
(2) Identify special transportation needs and recommend agency funding allocations and resources to meet these needs when appropriate;
(3) Identify legal and administrative barriers to effective service delivery;
(4) Review agency methods for distributing funds within the state and make recommendations when appropriate;
(5) Review agency funding criteria and make recommendations when appropriate;
(6) Review area transportation plans and make recommendations for plan format and content;
(7) Establish measurable objectives for the delivery of transportation services;
(8) Review annual performance data and make recommendations for improved service delivery, operating procedures or funding when appropriate;
(9) Review local disputes and conflicts on special transportation and recommend solutions;
(10) Develop and maintain a consolidated inventory of all transportation providers operating within the state. Accordingly, each state agency involved in providing transportation services shall provide such information to the council as is necessary for it to compile the consolidated inventory including, but not limited to, information relating to funding, expenses, revenues, ridership, areas of service, and evaluations of performance;
(11) Review and evaluate the transportation provision policies of each agency to determine the most efficient methods for facilitating the coordination of transportation services;
(12) Make recommendations specifically addressing the standards of financial and activity reporting and the contents of interagency agreements, including service assurances, financial commitments, monitoring plans and compliance plans, and the most appropriate and least costly service that can be accomplished through the coordination or consolidation of intra-departmental transportation resources; and
(13) Administer the coordinated specialized transportation incentive fund established under section 208.280.
208.280. 1. There is hereby created in the state treasury the "Coordinated Specialized Transportation Incentive Fund". The fund shall be administered by the coordinating council on special transportation. Upon appropriation, money in the fund shall be used solely for the administration of section 208.282.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, to the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund.
3. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.
208.282. 1. Beginning on a date specified by the department of transportation, two pilot projects shall be implemented, one in a classification 1 noncharter county and one in a classification 3 county as defined under section 48.020, RSMo, to study the feasability of a cooperative effort among public and private transportation providers. The classification 1 noncharter county shall be the county of the first classification with more than one hundred thirty-five thousand four hundred but fewer than one hundred thirty-five thousand five hundred inhabitants and the classification 3 county shall be selected by the department of transportation. The pilot projects shall be funded by the coordinated transportation incentive fund created under section 208.280, RSMo.
2. To be eligible to receive moneys from the coordinated transportation incentive fund, the two counties participating in the pilot project, as well as any other future regional transportation districts, shall establish in consultation with the individual county's metropolitan planning organization or regional planning commission an advisory transportation coordination committee which must submit to the coordinating council on special transportation a plan for cost-effective coordination of specialized transportation services in the planning district or in localities within the planning district. Single localities may appoint an advisory transportation coordinating committee independent of the planning district commission and receive specialized transportation incentive funds if the locality is located in a regional planning district in which all other localities are recipients of the federal funds and subject to the provisions of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act 101-336, 42 U.S.C. Section 12131 et seq. The advisory transportation committee shall guide planning for the coordination and administration of the specialized transportation with human service agencies, participating public transportation systems, and, where appropriate, with private for-profit and not-for-profit transportation providers. Advisory transportation coordination committees shall be composed of, but not limited to, elderly and disabled persons, providers of specialized transportation systems, participating public transportation systems, and local private for-profit and not-for-profit transportation providers. Localities and public transportation systems subject to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 101-336, 42 U.S.C. Section 12131 et seq., shall not be required to participate in coordinated specialized transportation plans, but may participate at their option.
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