TEA-21 - Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Moving Americans into the 21st Century
	Fact Sheet
	TEA-21 Home | DOT Home | Fact Sheet Index

MINIMUM GUARANTEE
Year	1997(ISTEA)	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Authorization1	$5,732M2	$5,467M	$5,743M	$5,781M	$5,904M	$5,995M	$6,122M

¹Such sums as may be necessary are authorized. Amount shown for 1998 is actual. Amounts shown for 1999-2003 are estimates based on the technical corrections in the TEA 21 Restoration Act.
²Includes authorizations for all ISTEA equity adjustments: Minimum Allocation, Donor State Bonus, 90 Percent of Payments Adjustment, Hold Harmless, Adjustment for Wisconsin, and Interstate Reimbursement.

Program Purpose

The Minimum Guarantee provides funding to States based on equity considerations. These include specific shares of overall program funds and a minimum return on contributions to the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund.

Calculation

TEA-21 specifies for each State a specific share of the aggregate annual funding for Interstate Maintenance (IM), National Highway System (NHS), Bridge, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ), Surface Transportation Program (STP), Metropolitan Planning, High Priority Projects, Appalachian Development Highway System, Recreational Trails, and the Minimum Guarantee itself. The percentage shares were pegged to result in a 90.5 percent return using data available at the time of enactment. [1104(a)]

The percentage shares are adjusted each year to ensure that each State’s share of apportionments for the specified programs is at least 90.5 percent of its percentage contributions to the Highway Account based on the latest data available at the time of the apportionment. The shares of States falling below that minimum return will be increased and the shares of the remaining States will be decreased so that the shares continue to total 100 percent. [1104(a)]

No State may receive less than $1 million per year in Minimum Guarantee funds. [TRA 9002(d)]

Administration of Funds

Each State's share of the first $2.8 billion of Minimum Guarantee funds is administered as STP funds except that the STP requirements for the setaside of funds for safety and transportation enhancements and the suballocation of funds to sub-State areas do not apply.

Each State’s share of the remainder is divided among certain programs—IM, NHS, Bridge, CMAQ, and STP—based on the share the State received for each program under the program formulas. [1104(a), TRA 9002(d)]

Budgetary Controls

Nationwide, $639 million per year of Minimum Guarantee apportionments are exempt from the Federal-aid Highway Program obligation limitation.

An additional $2 billion annually receives an equivalent amount of special obligation limitation that does not expire.

The remainder of the Minimum Guarantee funds are treated like all other funds subject to the obligation limitation.

Each State receives shares of each type of obligation authority in proportion to its share of Minimum Guarantee apportionments.

September 14, 1998