BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1203
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1203 (Ma) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 16 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Emergency Management Agency
(Cal EMA), by February 1 of each year, to select eligible
applicants for transit system safety project grants from the
Transit System Safety, Security and Disaster Response Account.
In addition, the bill requires Cal EMA to inform the State
Controller's Office (SCO) of the eligible applicants and
requires the SCO to begin taking all necessary actions to
allocate the funds to the appropriate agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT
There are no additional costs associated with this legislation.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill is intended to clarify that the funding in
the Transit System Safety, Security, and Disaster Response
Account must be administered by way of an up-front allocation,
rather than as a reimbursable grant program. According to the
author, 60% of the funds are currently administered this way.
This bill is targeted at the 25% of the funding that makes up
the waterborne element of the program.
According to the sponsors, the San Francisco Bay Area Water
Emergency Transportation Authority, state reimbursement
processes are such that grant program reimbursements for the
25% waterborne element have taken several months to process,
requiring the project sponsor the cumulative program costs
over several months at a time. This has required the project
sponsor to tie up significant amounts of cash to carry
AB 1203
Page 2
expenses while waiting for reimbursement. Once project
activity ramps up, it will be impossible for the sponsor to
carry the cost of project expenses over multiple months due to
limited cash on hand.
2)Transit System Safety, Security, and Disaster Response
Account . The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality,
and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B) authorized
the issuance of $19.925 billion in general obligation bond
funds for mobility, safety, and air quality improvements. $1
billion of that funding has been placed in the Transit System
Safety, Security, and Disaster Response Account. Funds are
made available from that account for capital projects that
provide increased protection against security and safety
threats, and for capital expenditures to increase the capacity
of transit operators, including waterborne transit operators,
to develop disaster response transportation systems that can
move people, goods, and emergency personnel and equipment in
the aftermath of a disaster that has impaired the mobility of
goods, people, and equipment.
Transit agencies eligible to receive funding from the Transit
System Safety, Security and Disaster Response Account are
divided into three groups. 60% of the available funds will be
allocated for capital expenditures to agencies and transit
operators. 25% of available funds are required to be allocated
for capital expenditures to regional public waterborne transit
agencies authorized to operate a regional public water transit
system, including the operation of water transit vessels,
terminals, and feeder buses, and not otherwise eligible to
receive State Transit Assistance funds. 15% of available funds
will be made available for capital expenditures to intercity
passenger rail systems and to commuter rail systems.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081