BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 1600 SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Torres VERSION: 5/30/2012 Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: yes Hearing date: June 26, 2012 SUBJECT: Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Authority DESCRIPTION: This bill authorizes the extension of the Gold Line light rail line from the City of Claremont in Los Angeles County to the City of Montclair in San Bernardino County. ANALYSIS: SB 1847 (Schiff), Chapter 1021, Statutes of 1998, created the Pasadena Metro Blue Line Construction Authority, now known as the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority (Authority), to oversee the planning, design, and construction of a light rail line from east Pasadena to Claremont. Currently, the Authority has sufficient resources to build the line as far as Azusa. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) operates the light rail service and maintains the line to East Pasadena. The Authority's governing board consists of five voting members, three of whom the city councils of the cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena, and South Pasadena appoint, one of whom is appointed by San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, and one member who is appointed by MTA. The governor, the City of Pasadena, and the City of South Pasadena each appoint one nonvoting member. This bill : 1.Authorizes the Authority to plan, design, and build an extension of the Gold Line from City of Claremont to the City of Montclair. 2.Authorizes the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) to appoint one nonvoting member to the governing board. AB 1660 (TORRES) Page 2 3.Authorizes MTA to operate each phase of the Gold Line light rail beyond its current terminus in east Pasadena to Azusa and Claremont. 4.Authorizes MTA to operate the Gold Line light rail trains outside of Los Angeles County, which is its area of jurisdiction, to Montclair in San Bernardino County. 5.Prohibits MTA from operating on right-of-way owned by SANBAG without a construction and maintenance agreement between MTA, SANBAG, and the Authority. 6.Clarifies that the Authority may accept grants, fees, allocations, and transfer of funds from federal, state, and local agencies. 7.States that MTA does not have to allocate funds to extending the light rail line to Montclair beyond the funds that it has allocated as of January 1, 2012. COMMENTS: 1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill increases mass transportation options in the eastern San Gabriel Valley and in western San Bernardino County by authorizing the construction of the Gold Line light rail system to Montclair. In addition, the Authority has determined that the extension of the Gold Line to the City of Montclair will have beneficial environmental and traffic impacts. The Authority believes that Montclair, with a regional transportation center, is the logical terminus for the Gold Line because it allows for the intermodal interface with the San Bernardino County bus system and with the Metrolink commuter rail system. RELATED LEGISLATION: Currently, the MTA sales tax program allocates $735 million for extending the Gold Line to Azusa. AB 1446 (Feuer), also on today's agenda, proposes to place on the ballot an authorization to remove the 30-year sunset on Los Angeles County's local percent transportation sales tax, referred to as Measure R, but does not propose to increase the allocation of funds to any project in Los Angeles County. The Authority is seeking amendments to AB 1446 because MTA's expenditure plan provides no funding to complete the Gold Line project to Claremont. AB 1660 (TORRES) Page 3 Pressure may build, therefore, to expend additional Los Angeles County sales tax revenue on the extension from Claremont to Montclair. Assembly Votes: Floor: 75-0 Appr: 17-0 Trans: 14-0 Loc Gov: 9-0 POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, June 20, 2012) SUPPORT: Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority (sponsor) OPPOSED: None received.