BILL NUMBER: AJR 4	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Miller

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2011

   Relative to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 4, as introduced, Miller. Transportation Infrastructure
Finance and Innovation Act.
   This measure would memorialize the President of the United States
and the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation
to award a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act loan guarantee to enable the timely construction of
the State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project in the interest of
economic competitiveness of California and the United States.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation
Act (TIFIA) program was created by the United States Congress to
provide credit assistance to nationally or regionally significant
surface transportation projects; and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project requires
a federal loan guarantee from the TIFIA program to enable
construction of the $1.3 billion infrastructure project; and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project will be
built entirely without state or federal funding, relying solely on
local revenues; and
   WHEREAS, The voters of Riverside County, California have twice
approved a one-half cent "self-help" sales tax for transportation
that includes improvements to State Highway Route 91; and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project will be
among the largest highway construction projects to commence in the
State of California in nearly a decade; and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project is
anticipated to provide significant economic benefits to the State of
California, including, but not limited to, $2 billion in economic
output throughout the state, labor income totaling over $778 million,
$85 million in increased state and local tax revenues, a permanent
increase of 830 jobs per year after construction, and time saved by
commuters with a net present value of $1.5 billion to the California
economy; and
   WHEREAS, Unemployment in areas of California served by State
Highway Route 91 has exceeded 15 percent and remains above 14
percent; and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project can begin
construction in early 2012 if federal TIFIA financing is received;
and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project employs
congestion pricing as an innovative tool to manage severe congestion
and enable the growth of public transit by bus, rail, and bicycle in
a highly constrained, narrow canyon that is the primary route between
the inland and coastal regions of southern California, which are
inextricably connected to the economic well-being of California; and
   WHEREAS, The State Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project is a
product of regional planning and environmental stewardship, including
the largest multispecies habitat conservation plan in the United
States, comprehensive integrated planning by the County of Riverside
in response to rapid urbanization, and a decade of cooperation
between Riverside and Orange Counties in regional transportation
management and planning; and
   WHEREAS, It is in the economic interest of the State of California
and the United States to encourage local investment in nationally
and regionally significant infrastructure, create jobs in near and
long term, and improve the quality of life for hard-working families
and businesses who rely on major highways such as State Highway Route
91 to access employment, customers, and their families; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of California has, on two
separate occasions, approved legislation on a bipartisan basis to
authorize and accelerate the construction of the State Route 91
Corridor Improvement Project; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
memorializes the President of the United States and the Secretary of
the United States Department of Transportation to award a federal
TIFIA loan guarantee to enable the timely construction of the State
Route 91 Corridor Improvement Project in the interest of economic
competitiveness of California and the United States; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
to the Majority Leader in the Senate, to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States,
to the Secretary of United States Department of Transportation, and
to the author for appropriate distribution.