BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 289|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 289
Author: Galgiani (D), et al
Amended: 8/27/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe, Pavley,
Simitian, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Emmerson, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-3, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : High-speed rail
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Governor, subject to on
appropriation, to appoint up to six additional civil
service-exempt staff for the management and administration
of the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), and requires
certain American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to be
used for planning and engineering, and for capital costs,
for the high-speed train system consistent with federal law
and regulations and specified provisions of SB 965
(DeSaulnier).
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AB 289
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Senate Floor Amendments of 8/20/10 remove conflicts with SB
965 (DeSaulnier), delete budget appropriation, and add
language requiring this bill to become operative only if SB
965 is signed by the Governor.
ANALYSIS : SB 1420 (Kopp), Chapter 796, Statutes of 1996,
creates the High-Speed Rail Authority. In 2008,
California voters approved the Safe, Reliable High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Act, Proposition 1A, which was put on
the ballot by AB 3034 (Galgiani), Chapter 276, Statutes of
2008. The bond measure makes available $9 billion for the
development of a high-speed rail system and $950 million
for improvements to existing passenger rail systems that
will offer feeder services to the high-speed rail service.
Proposition 1A identified Phase I of the high-speed rail
(HSR) project as Anaheim-Los Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-San
Jose-San Francisco Transbay Terminal. Although planning
can proceed on the San Diego and Sacramento lines,
construction may occur only after Phase I is under
construction and funding is available for these two
additional segments.
In January of 2010, the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) awarded the HSRA a $2.25 billion American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant, the largest HSR grant
award in the country. Included in the grant is $400
million for the San Francisco Transbay Terminal joint
powers agency, which submitted a separate ARRA application,
but FRA consolidated its grant with the state's. The
actual amount of ARRA funds available to the HSR project is
$1.85 billion. The ARRA grant is for assisting in funding
the preliminary engineering and environmental work on Phase
I and to assist with the construction of the following
Phase I segments: Los Angeles-Anaheim, Fresno-Bakersfield,
Fresno-Merced, and San Jose-San Francisco. As a condition
of the grant, the HSRA must obtain environmental clearances
for the corridors by September 30, 2011, and construction
must be completed by September 30, 2017. In addition to
the Proposition 1A authorization and the ARRA funds, the
HSRA also has $336 million of other public funds. The
total amount of funding currently available to the HSRA is
$11.2 billion. The HSRA's current estimate for
constructing Phase I is $42.6 billion.
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Management of the HSRA . Existing law establishes the HSRA
with a nine member governing board, including five members
appointed by the governor, two members appointed by the
Senate Rules Committee, and two members appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly. The board is authorized to
appoint an executive director, who is exempt from the state
civil service, at a salary established by the board and
approved by the Department of Personnel Administration.
With the approval of the board, the executive director may
appoint staff to assist him.
This bill:
1. Authorizes the governor, upon the recommendation of the
executive director of the HSRA, to appoint up to six
exempt employees who shall serve at the pleasure of the
executive director, and who shall serve in the following
positions:
Chief program officer
Regional directors (up to three)
Chief financial officer
Director of risk management and project controls
2. Authorizes the compensation of all exempt employees to
be set by the governing board based on a salary survey
conducted by independent outside advisors of state,
regional and local transportation agencies with
responsibilities comparable to the HSRA, and other
relevant labor pools.
3. Requires the Department of Personnel Administration
(DPA) to review the methodology used in the survey and
to approve the salaries set by the governing board. DPA
may accept a previously completed salary survey if it so
desires.
State Funds . Existing law establishes an annual budgetary
process managed by the Budget and Fiscal Committee in the
Senate and the Budget Committee in the Assembly to
determine the level of appropriations for all state
programs for the fiscal year.
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Federal Funds . Existing law authorizes the HSRA to accept
federal grants; however, the grant revenues cannot be
expended nor can state funds be expended in anticipation of
being reimbursed from a federal grant, until there is an
appropriation of funds by the Legislature. In addition,
existing law requires the HSRA to adopt a funding plan that
identifies all existing funds for expenditure in a corridor
as an element of the pre-appropriation process and the plan
must be reviewed by a peer review group.
This bill:
1. Specifies federal funds for high-speed rail purposes
received on a reimbursement basis from Title XII of ARRA
shall be deposited in the federal trust fund and shall
be used in a manner consistent with federal law and
regulations and SB 965(DeSaulnier).
2. Provides this bill shall only become operative upon
successful enactment of SB 965 (DeSaulnier).
3. Requires funds received by the HSRA from the Passenger
Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) be
used for planning and engineering of future high-speed
rail service in the Merced to Sacramento Corridor, Los
Angeles to San Diego Corridor, and the Altamont
Corridor.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Exempt staff $413 $825 $825 Bond*
Appointments
Bond appropriations:
Capital outlay $86,750 Bond*
HSRA operations $57,321 Bond*
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ARRA appropriation $77,500 Federal**
*High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund
** American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds, in Federal
Trust Fund
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Duvall,
Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fuentes, Fuller,
Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Knight, Nava
NO VOTE RECORDED: DeVore, Eng, Fong, Price, Saldana
JJA:do 8/30/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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