BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 4
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AJR 4 (Miller) - As Amended: April 5, 2011
SUBJECT : Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation
Act: State Route 91
SUMMARY : Memorializes 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 (TIFIA) loan guarantee to the State Route 91
Corridor Improvement Project.
EXISTING LAW: Authorizes the Riverside County Transportation
Commission (RCTC) to impose and collect tolls on State Highway
Route 91 in Riverside County and to issue bonds and other forms
of indebtedness for specified purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : In 2008, the Legislature enacted SB 1316 (Correa),
Chapter 714, that gave RCTC the authority to develop the State
Highway Route 91 Corridor Improvements Project. The project,
between the Orange County line to Interstate 15 in Riverside
County, includes a general purpose traffic lane in each
direction, improved ramps and intersections at major city
streets that intersect the freeway in Corona, better connections
between Interstate 15 and State Highway Route 91, and the
extension of the State Highway Route 91 Express Lanes, which are
currently located on State Highway Route 91 in Orange County to
Interstate 15. The project is a $1.2 billion project that is
expected to create 18,000 jobs.
Project proponents assert that the key to the project's success
is RCTC's financing plan, which is based on a mix of TIFIA loan
guarantees and revenue bonds. TIFIA provides federal credit
assistance in the form of direct loans, loan guarantees, and
standby lines of credit to finance surface transportation
projects of national and regional significance. TIFIA credit
assistance provides improved access to capital markets, flexible
repayment terms, and potentially more favorable interest rates
than can be found in private capital markets for similar
instruments. TIFIA loans are intended to help advance qualified,
AJR 4
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large-scale projects that otherwise might be delayed or deferred
because of size, complexity, or uncertainty over the timing of
revenues. Many surface transportation projects, such as highway,
transit, railroad, intermodal freight, and port access, are
eligible for assistance.
The author has introduced this bill to ensure that, during the
highly-competitive TIFIA application process, California's
largest job-creating transportation project-the State Highway
Route 91 Corridor Improvements Project--receives a full and fair
hearing from the U.S. Department of Transportation in
consideration of awarding RCTC with a TIFIA loan.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093