BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 845 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 18, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 845 (Ma) - As Amended: May 10, 2011 Policy Committee: TransportationVote:14-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill establishes in statute provisions consistent with existing guidelines governing the allocation of $760 million in general obligation bond funds authorized in the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century for the Commuter and Urban Rail Program. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the distribution of the funds to be based on the 2007 data in the National Transit Database of the Federal Transit Administration. 2)Directs the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to accept from each eligible recipient of the funds a priority list of projects, each of which must meet criteria set forth in the Bond Act. 3)Directs the CTC to require that matching funds are to be provided from non-state funds, as defined. 4)Provides that the required match for commuter and urban rail projects begins with expenditures made subsequent to the adoption of the program by the CTC. FISCAL EFFECT Negligible fiscal impact, as the bill codifies existing guidelines already adopted by the CTC for allocation of bond funds. COMMENTS AB 845 Page 2 Background and Purpose . In November 2008, California voters approved Proposition 1A, a $9.95 billion bond measure to build the country's first high-speed rail train system. Proposition 1A included $950 million for local capital modernization and improvement projects on existing rail facilities in California to provide connectivity to high-speed rail. In February 2010, the CTC adopted guidelines to implement both the Intercity Rail Program ($190 million) and the Commuter and Urban Rail Program (for the remaining $760 million). In its guidelines for the Commuter and Urban Rail Program, the CTC provided that it will give priority to those projects that provide direct connectivity to the high-speed train system. This bill codifies elements of the adopted CTC guidelines for distributing funds under the Commuter and Urban Rail Program. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081