_________ Bill No. _______

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act allocating coal severance tax funds to ethanol research and development; providing for the use of the funds; amending section

15-35-108, MCA; and providing an effective date."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

Section 1.  Section 15-35-108, MCA, is amended to read:

"15-35-108.   Disposal of severance taxes. Severance taxes collected under this chapter must, in accordance with the provisions of 15-1-501, be allocated as follows:

(1)  Fifty percent of total coal severance tax collections is allocated to the trust fund created by Article IX, section 5, of the Montana constitution. The trust fund money must be deposited in the fund established under 17-6-203(6) and invested by the board of investments as provided by law.

(2)  Twelve percent of coal severance tax collections is allocated to the long-range building program account established in 17-7-205.

(3)  The amount of 8.36% must be credited to an account in the state special revenue fund to be allocated by the legislature for local impacts, county land planning, provision of basic library services for the residents of all counties through library federations and for payment of the costs of participating in regional and national networking, conservation districts, and the Montana Growth Through Agriculture Act. Any cash balance that is unspent at the end of each fiscal year must be deposited in the general fund.

(4)  The amount of 1.27% must be allocated to a nonexpendable trust fund for the purpose of parks acquisition or management. Income from this trust fund must be appropriated for the acquisition, development, operation, and maintenance of any sites and areas described in 23-1-102.

(5)  The amount of 0.95% must be allocated to the debt service fund type to the credit of the renewable resource loan debt service fund.

(6)  The amount of 0.63% must be allocated to a nonexpendable trust fund for the purpose of protection of works of art in the state capitol and for other cultural and aesthetic projects. Income from this trust fund must be appropriated for protection of works of art in the state capitol and other cultural and aesthetic projects.

(7) After the allocations in subsections (1) through (6), the remaining funds, up to $500,000, must be deposited to a state special revenue account to fund ethanol research and development.

(7)(8) All other revenue from severance taxes collected under the provisions of this chapter must be credited to the general fund of the state."

NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Ethanol research and development account. (1) There is within the state special revenue fund an ethanol research and development account. Money is paid into this account pursuant to 15-35-108. The state treasurer shall draw warrants payable from this account upon order of the department.

(2)  Each fiscal year, the department shall allocate the funds appropriated from the ethanol research and development account for grants designed to implement the policy established in 90-4-1011.

(3)  To ensure that the grants provide the greatest possible benefits during the fiscal year, the department may allocate funds based on the availability of funds or the applications that it receives and the department's evaluation of the relative merits of each project.

NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Codification instruction. [Section 2] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 90, chapter 4, part 10, and the provisions of Title 90, chapter 4, part 10, apply to [section 2].

NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 1997.

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