BILL ANALYSIS AB 2495 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2495 (Nunez) As Amended May 26, 2006 Majority vote HUMAN SERVICES APPROPRIATIONS (vote not relevant) (vote not available) ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Adds two legislative appointments to the California Transportation Commission (CTC). Specifically, this bill : 1)Increases the membership of CTC to from 11 to 13. 2)Adds one member to be appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and one to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. 3)Specifies that neither of these appointments is subject to Senate confirmation and that they both shall hold office for terms of four years, and until their successors are appointed. EXISTING LAW : 1)Establishes an 11-member CTC, nine of whom are empowered to vote. 2)Requires the nine voting members to be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. 3)Requires one member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and one member of the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly to be non-voting ex officio members of the CTC and to participate in its activities to the extent that such participation is not incompatible with their positions as members of the Legislature. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : The CTC is responsible for programming and allocating funds used in the construction of highway, intercity passenger rail and transit improvements throughout California. It also AB 2495 Page 2 advises the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and the Legislature in formulating and evaluating state policies and plans for California's transportation programs. Since its establishment in 1978, CTC has been composed of nine voting members appointed by the Governor and two ex-officio, non-voting members, who are, traditionally, the chairs of the Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees. The terms of the voting members are four years in length and are staggered. This bill allows the Senate Rules Committee and the Assembly Speaker to each appoint a voting member to the CTC. The CTC carries out several important responsibilities related to establishing policies regarding the expenditure of state transportation revenues, including the adoption of the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP). When projects in the STIP, SHOPP, and the statutorily-established Traffic Congestion Relief Program (TCRP) are ready to go to bid, CTC allocates revenues to them. The CTC's other responsibilities include the adoption of the fund estimate used by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the regional transportation planning agencies to prepare the regional transportation improvement programs and the STIP, and the adoption of guidelines used by the regions to prepare the regional transportation plans. This bill is intended to allow the legislative branch to participate in critical decisions affecting state transportation policy and the state transportation system. Even with the inclusion of two legislatively-appointed members, CTC would still retain a strong gubernatorial majority. Related legislation: SB 1703 (Lowenthal) would also create two legislative appointments to the CTC. Unlike this bill, however, SB 1703 would do so at the expense of two current gubernatorial appointments. SB 1266 (Perata), Chapter 25, Statutes of 2006, authorized a $19.975 billion transportation bond to be placed on the November, 2006 ballot. Should that bond measure be adopted by the voters, it would include $4.5 billion for "corridor mobility" projects on the state highway system and the local road system. Fund allocations for such projects would be made by the CTC pursuant guidelines that it develops and adopts. AB 2495 Page 3 Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0014982