BILL NUMBER: AB 89	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Garcia

                        DECEMBER 14, 2006

   An act to add and repeal Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section
8715) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to
economic development.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 89, as introduced, Garcia. California and Mexico border
infrastructure: study.
   Existing law requires the Secretary of Business, Transportation
and Housing to develop and report to the Governor on legislative,
budgetary, and administrative programs that accomplish comprehensive,
long-range, coordinated planning and policy formulation in the
matters of public interest related to the Business, Transportation
and Housing Agency.
   This bill would require the secretary, by January 1, 2010, to
prepare and provide to the Legislature a study on the infrastructure
development along the border between California and Mexico and any
need for alternative financing mechanisms suited to the challenges of
the border region, as specified. These provisions would be repealed
on January 1, 2011.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) According to findings by the Southwest Center for
Environmental Research and Policy, the population of 25 United States
counties and 35 Mexican municipalities along the Mexican border is
expected to double by the year 2020, reaching 24 million residents.
These population trends will lead to escalating infrastructure
deficits for border communities, including, but not limited to,
highway, airport and port facilities, railway, and environmental,
water, and energy needs that must be addressed to ensure economic
competitiveness and quality of life for border residents.
   (b) Significant opportunities exist for California firms in trade
with Mexico, as evidenced by both of the following:
   (1) Trade statistics show exports to Mexico of goods originating
in California grew an average of 12.8 percent annually between 1988
and 2002, due in part to the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). California exports to Mexico directly and indirectly support
more than 200,000 California jobs.
   (2) Manufacturing growth among maquiladora operations in Mexico
grew from 370,000 in 1988 to 1.1 million in 2004. Significant trade
opportunities exist for California firms to become suppliers to those
border industrial complexes.
   (c) State government support to promote associations and strategic
alliances among California, and Mexican business partners would
facilitate these trade linkages.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 8715) is added to
Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 8.3.  CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO BORDER ECONOMIC
INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING STUDY


   8715.   (a) The Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing
shall prepare and provide to the Legislature, by January 1, 2010, a
study regarding infrastructure development along the border between
California and Mexico and any need for alternative financing
mechanisms suited to the challenges of the border region. The study
shall be prepared within existing resources of the agency.
   (b) The study shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
   (1) An examination of the financial, geographic, and political
challenges to infrastructure development along the border between the
state and Mexico.
   (2) An examination of the state's ability to develop
infrastructure projects along the border between the state and
Mexico.
   (3) Identification of the necessary level of interaction between
the appropriate local, state, federal, and Mexican agencies in
infrastructure development along the border between the state and
Mexico.
   (4) Identification of current and potential state, federal, or
Mexican revenue sources and financing mechanisms for infrastructure
development along the border between the state and Mexico.
   (5) Identification of the extent to which current state, federal,
or Mexican revenue sources and financing mechanisms for
infrastructure development are being utilized along the border
between the state and Mexico.
   (6) Identification of any deficiencies or gaps in the available
financing mechanisms for infrastructure development along the border
between the state and Mexico.
   (7) Identification of possible infrastructure development projects
along the border between the state and Mexico and an analysis of the
need for each project.
   8716.  This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends
that date.