BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1164 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 25, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair AB 1164 (Gordon) - As Amended: April 7, 2011 SUBJECT : California High-Speed Rail Authority: members: Senate confirmation SUMMARY : Requires Senate confirmation of the five members of the High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) who are appointed by the Governor. EXISTING LAW : 1)Enacts the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century (High-Speed Rail Bond Act). The High-Speed Rail Bond Act, approved as Proposition 1A in November 2008, provides $9.95 billion in general obligation bond authority to fund the planning and construction of a high-speed passenger train system and complementary improvements to other specified rail systems in the state. 2)Establishes the Authority and charges it with the planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining a state-of-the-art high-speed train system for California. 3)Prescribes the membership of the Authority as follows: five members appointed by the Governor, two members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. The appointments are not subject to Senate confirmation. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : The Authority was created by SB 1420 (Kopp) Chapter 796, Statutes of 1996, which vested it with the responsibility to direct the development and implementation of intercity high-speed rail service. SB 1420 directed the Authority to prepare a plan for the construction and operation of a high-speed train network for the state and to submit that plan to the Legislature and the Governor, or to the voters of the state, for approval. That bill prescribed various powers of the Authority relative to planning and contracting for the construction, financing, and operation of a high-speed rail AB 1164 Page 2 system. In 1996, the Authority's chief responsibility was to plan for a high-speed train network. Today, the Authority's chief responsibility is to implement the plan. The current cost estimate for the initial phase of the 800-mile network is $43 billion. To complete the project, the Authority will initially oversee consultant contracts amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, with billions of dollars in right of way acquisition and construction contracts to follow. The ramifications of the Authority's decisions will reverberate throughout the state's transportation programs, the state General Fund and even the federal rail program for years to come. Despite the enormity of their responsibilities, however, existing law prescribes that the membership of the Authority meet one criterion only-geographical diversity. Members of the Authority are not required, for example, to be elected officials (and, therefore, accountable to voters) nor have any particular expertise or credentials (and, therefore, accountable to, for example, a code of conduct or professional standards). Furthermore, because members serve prescribed terms, individual members are not necessarily accountable to their appointing power, which may or may not still be in office. Subjecting gubernatorial appointees to Senate confirmation is an established means of creating an appropriate balance of power and accountability. Other state boards and commissions (for example, the Energy Commission, the California State Lottery Commission, the California Transportation Commission, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, etc.) have legislative appointees along with gubernatorial appointees whose appointment requires confirmation by the Senate. This model is frequently used at the federal level as well. This bill does not require the existing members to vacate their current appointments. The bill is prospective and relates only to future gubernatorial appointees. Given the magnitude of the high-speed rail project, AB 1164 is an appropriate step toward ensuring membership on the Authority is fair and balanced. Previous legislation : SB 455 (Lowenthal) of 2009 included provisions identical to this bill. That bill passed the AB 1164 Page 3 Legislature but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger based on the following veto message: "Current law provides that the five members of the High-Speed Rail Board appointed by the Governor are not subject to Senate confirmation. I see no reason to change this. I might be persuaded to change my mind if the Legislature were to allow the Executive Branch to confirm its four appointments to the Board." Related legislation: SB 517 (Lowenthal) reconstitutes the Authority membership. SB 517 will be heard in Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on April 26, 2011. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support None on file Opposition Californians for High Speed Rail Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093