BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 57
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 57 (Beall) - As Amended: April 27, 2011
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:13-0
Local Government 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands the membership of the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC) from 19 to 21 members.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides one additional seat each to the Counties of Alameda
and Santa Clara, and requires that these new members be either
the mayors of the Cities of Oakland and San Jose or an
appointee of the mayors from their respective city councils.
2)Prohibits, effective with the membership term starting
February 2015, more than three members of MTC from being
residents of the same county.
3)Requires the initial terms of the commissioners appointed by
the mayors of the Cities of Oakland and San Jose to terminate
in February 2015.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state costs. Any costs associated with the expanded
commission are not reimbursable because the commission has
requested the authority provided in this bill.
COMMENTS
1)Background . The MTC is the regional transportation planning
agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. The
composition of the commission has not changed since it was
established by statute in 1970. Currently the 19-member MTC
AB 57
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governing board includes the following 16 voting members:
a) Two members each from the Counties of Alameda, Santa
Clara, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo;
b) One member each from the Counties of Marin, Napa,
Solano, and Sonoma;
c) One representative each appointed by the Association of
Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC).
2)Purpose . According to the author, this bill (sponsored by MTC)
is intended to make MTC's governing board more reflective of
the current population distribution in the region.
Accordingly, the additional representation provided by AB 57
reflects significant population increases in Alameda and Santa
Clara Counties relative to the three other large counties
(Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo) that currently
also have two board members each. The author notes that,
Alameda and Santa Clara have this same membership despite
having at least 40% more residents than the other three
counties.
3)Opposition . The San Francisco Transportation Authority argues
that, since its inception, MTC representation has not been
proportional to population, and that AB 57 "has the potential
to destabilize the consensus dynamics evolved over four
decades of history of the MTC.
4)Prior Legislation . In 2004, a similar bill, AB 2741 (Salinas),
died in Assembly Local Government.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081