BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 650 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 650 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: March 31, 2011 Policy Committee: TransportationVote:9-1 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill establishes a 12-member task force to report on the state's public transportation needs over the next 25 years. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly to jointly appoint the task force members, including a chair, by March 31, 2012. Members will not be paid, but shall receive necessary travel expenses. 2)Requires the task force, within 45 days of the last joint appointment, to develop a clear scope of work, including a general statement of purpose, enumerated research objectives and associated tasks, a timeline for achieving those tasks, consultant requirements, and a budget. 3)Requires the task force to meet at least twice each month, which can be via conference call, and to hold at conduct at least nine public listening sessions around the state. 4)Requires the task force to issue a written report by March 31, 2013, addressing all of the following: a) The current state of California's transit system. b) Best practices, based on a review of transit systems worldwide. c) The level and types of transit needed to meet specified goals. d) The estimated cost of creating the needed system in the near term (within five years), midterm (within 15 years), and long term (within 25 years). AB 650 Page 2 e) Potential sources of funding to sustain the system's needs and requirements and methods for attaining that funding. f) Suggested scenarios for phasing in transit development and recommendations for action. 1)Appropriates $750,000 from the Public Transportation Account (PTA) to Caltrans, to accomplish this bill's purposes, and requires Caltrans to provide all administrative staff support to the task force. FISCAL EFFECT One-time $750,000 cost from the PTA for the task force, which is to cover the cost of meetings, listening sessions, consulting contracts, and Caltrans support staff. COMMENTS Purpose . The author notes the recent declines in transit funding and the resulting reductions in service, even at a time of increasing demand. The author argues that "A comprehensive report produced by a task force of qualified representatives is necessary to provide viable solutions to our statewide public transportation problems. The task force will draw upon expert research that lays out the current state of mass transit in the state, what the state needs to do to ensure the system meets demand, how much it would cost, and practical recommendations on how to pay for that system." Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081