BILL NUMBER: AB 289 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 25, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani
FEBRUARY 13, 2009
An act to amend Section 185024 of the Public Utilities Code, and
to add Chapter 20.1 (commencing with Section 2704.25) to Division 3
of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to high-speed rail, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 289, as amended, Galgiani. High-speed rail.
Existing law, the California High-Speed Rail Act, creates the
High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail
system in the state, with specified powers and duties. Existing law,
pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the
November 4, 2008, general election, provides for the issuance of
$9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and
related purposes. The federal Passenger Rail Investment and
Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) and the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides
provide funding for allocation nationally to high-speed rail
projects.
This bill would identify the corridors eligible for ARRA and PRIIA
funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, and require the
authority to work with the Federal Railroad Administration to create
a plan for expenditure of the ARRA funds. The bill would set
forth the dates for obligation and expenditure of the ARRA funds and
dates for completion of various tasks in that regard.
These provisions would not apply to the portion of ARRA funds awarded
to the Transbay Terminal project in San Francisco.
Existing law provides for appointment of an executive director by
the authority, who is exempt from civil service and serves at the
pleasure of the authority. Under existing law, the salary of the
executive director is established by the authority and approved by
the Department of Personnel Administration.
This bill, for purposes of overseeing
managing and administering the ongoing work of the authority in
implementing the high-speed rail project, would authorize the
Governor , upon recommendation of the executive director,
to appoint up to 6 additional executive staff exempt from civil
service who would serve in specified positions at the
pleasure of the executive director. The bill would require the
authority to cause a salary survey to be conducted to determine the
compensation for the executive director and additional
exempt staff, and would require the salaries to be
approved by the Department of Personnel Administration.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. 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) With the enactment of the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (Public Law 111-5) on February 17, 2009, the
federal government made available a grant program in which states
could apply for up to $8 billion in federal funds for the development
of high-speed rail throughout the nation.
(b) On October 2, 2009, the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA)
submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the United
States Department of Transportation an application for $4.73 billion
in federal funds to further the development of high-speed rail in
California.
(c) On January 28, 2010, the federal government awarded the HSRA
$2.25 billion to advance the development of a high-speed rail system
in this state.
(d) The HSRA estimates that 90,000 jobs will be created or
maintained by the investment of these ARRA funds, along with matching
state bond funds, in the dozens of construction projects along the
eligible corridors throughout California.
(e) It is necessary to provide the HSRA with unambiguous statutory
authority to receive and expend federal funds awarded to the HSRA
for the purposes described in its application of October 2, 2009, and
consistent with the award of those federal funds.
(f) Moreover, it is in the state's interest to obligate and expend
awarded funds as expeditiously as possible and in a manner
consistent with the voters' expectations when they approved the Safe,
Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century
(Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 2704) of Division 3 of the
Streets and Highways Code) in November 2008, in order to expand job
creation and to complete vital infrastructure improvements as soon as
possible.
SEC. 2. Section 185024 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
185024. (a) The authority shall appoint an executive director,
exempt from civil service, who shall serve at the pleasure of the
authority, to administer the affairs of the authority as directed by
the authority.
(b) For purposes of managing and administering the ongoing work
of the authority in implementing the high-speed train project, upon
recommendation of the executive director, the Governor may appoint up
to six additional employees, exempt from civil service, who shall
serve at the pleasure of the executive director.
Pursuant director. Pursuant to this
subdivision, the Governor may appoint employees only for the
following positions:
(1) Chief program manager.
(2) Regional director.
(3) Chief financial officer.
(4) Director of risk management and project controls.
(c) The compensation of the executive director and the additional
employees authorized by subdivision (b) shall be established by the
authority, and approved by the Department of Personnel
Administration, in an amount that is reasonably necessary, in the
discretion of the authority, to attract and hold a person of superior
qualifications. The authority shall cause to be conducted, through
the use of independent outside advisers, a salary survey to determine
the compensation for the positions under this subdivision. The
Department of Personnel Administration may, in its discretion, accept
a previously completed salary survey that meets the requirements of
this subdivision, and shall review the methodology used in the
survey. The salary survey shall consider of both
of the following:
(1) Other state, regional, and local transportation agencies that
are most comparable to the authority and its responsibilities.
(2) Other relevant labor pools.
The compensation set by the authority shall not exceed the highest
comparable compensation for a position of that type, as determined
by the salary survey. Based on the salary survey, these positions
shall be paid a salary established by the authority and approved by
the Department of Personnel Administration.
(d) The executive director may, as authorized by the authority,
appoint necessary staff to carry out the provisions of this part.
SEC. 3. Chapter 20.1 (commencing with Section 2704.25) is added to
Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code, to read:
CHAPTER 20.1. HIGH-SPEED RAIL IMPLEMENTATION AND OVERSIGHT
Article 1. General Provisions
2704.25. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "ARRA" means the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
(b) "Authority" means the High-Speed Rail Authority created
pursuant to Section 185020 of the Public Utilities Code, or its
successor.
(c) "Bond act" means the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train
Bond Act for the 21st Century (Chapter 20 (commencing with Section
2704).
Article 2. Implementation of the Safe, Reliable High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century
2704.30. It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate, in
the 2010-11 Budget Act, the sum of two hundred thirty million five
hundred thousand dollars ($230,500,000) in state bond funds from the
High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund to the authority. The state bond
funds shall be used to provide a dollar-for-dollar match for federal
funds received by the state as provided in Section 2704.50. As these
state bond funds are expended by the authority, an equivalent amount
of federal high-speed rail funds received on a reimbursement basis
from the federal government shall be deposited in the High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Fund to replace the expended state bond funds.
The deposited federal funds shall be used, upon appropriation, for
high-speed rail purposes consistent with federal law and regulations.
Not more than 30 days after replacing the expended state bond funds
with federal funds, the Director of Finance shall notify, in writing,
the chair of the committees in each house of the Legislature that
consider appropriations and the chair of the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee of this action.
Article 3. 2. Federal High-Speed
Rail Funds
2704.50. The sum of two billion two hundred fifty million dollars
($2,250,000,000) in federal funds made available to the state for
high-speed rail purposes pursuant to Title XII of Division A
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
A of ARRA shall, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, be used for (a) planning and engineering for the
high-speed train system and (b) capital costs, consistent with
federal guidelines, rules, and regulations, and consistent with the
bond act and this chapter.
2704.51. The authority shall take those actions necessary to
ensure that federal ARRA funds awarded to the state for high-speed
rail purposes are expended and used in a manner that meets all
applicable federal guidelines, rules, and regulations.
2704.52. (a) The ARRA funds to be appropriated pursuant to
Section 2704.50 shall be available for preliminary engineering,
project-level environmental work, mitigation, final design, and
construction for the following corridors that were approved by the
Federal Railroad Administration, without reference to any individual
corridor or corridors:
(1) San Francisco to San Jose.
(2) Merced to Fresno.
(3) Fresno to Bakersfield.
(4) Los Angeles to Anaheim.
(b) Funds received from the Passenger Rail Investment and
Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA; Public Law 110-432) for 2010-11
shall, upon appropriation, be available for planning and engineering
for any of the following corridors, without reference to any
individual corridor or corridors:
(1) Merced to Sacramento.
(2) Los Angeles to San Diego.
(3) The Altamont Corridor.
2704.53. (a) The authority
shall work with the Federal Railroad Administration to establish
priorities among the four corridors specified in subdivision (a) of
Section 2704.52 and to create a plan for expenditure of ARRA funds to
be appropriated pursuant to Section 2704.50. Upon finalizing the
expenditure plan, the authority shall submit a copy of the plan to
the Director of Finance and to the policy committees with
jurisdiction over transportation matters and to the fiscal committees
in both houses of the Legislature.
(b) The federal funds to be appropriated pursuant to Section
2704.50 shall be available for obligation and expenditure by the
following dates specified in ARRA and its implementing guidelines,
rules, and regulations:
(1) Completion of environmental review by September 2011.
(2) Obligation of funds by September 2012.
(3) Completion of construction by September 2017.
2704.54. This article shall not apply to ARRA high-speed rail
funds awarded to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority for purposes of
constructing the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to ensure that California may secure the maximum amount
of funds available for high-speed rail development and to provide for
necessary staff in that regard as quickly as possible, it is
necessary that this act take effect immediately.