BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 463
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 463 (Logue) - As Introduced: February 19, 2013
SUBJECT : High-Speed Rail Authority: contracts
SUMMARY : Requires the High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority),
as well as its contractors and subcontractors, to provide the
Legislature with a copy of each contract, contract amendment,
and contract change order valued at $25,000 or more.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Enacts the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
for the 21st Century (Act). The 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
responsibility to plan, design, construct, operate, and
maintain a state-of-the-art high-speed train system for
California.
3)Establishes the Authority as a state entity.
4)Establishes procedures for competitive bidding of certain
contracts by public entities.
5)Governs contracting between state agencies and private
contractors.
6)Delineates the various responsibilities of state agencies in
overseeing and implementing state contracting procedures and
policies.
7)Authorizes the Department of General Services (DGS) to approve
contracts entered into by state entities.
8)Requires state agencies, pursuant to the California Public
Records Act (CPRA), to give the public access to information
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in their possession which would include contract documents.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the Authority was created to
be an independent entity to create a high-speed rail system for
the state and, as a result, there is not a statutory requirement
that the Authority release its contracts to the Legislature.
Further, the author believes that it is important that the
public be informed about how high-speed rail funds are being
spent, particularly since a recent report by the State Auditor
noted that contractors and subcontractors will outnumber
Authority employees by twenty-five to one. Therefore, in an
effort to provide maximum oversight and reduce potential waste
and fraud, the author has introduced this bill that would
require the Authority and its contractors and subcontractors to
submit copies of all contracts, contract amendments, and
contract change orders exceeding $25,000 to the Legislature.
Contrary to the author's assertions, the Authority is
specifically established as an agency within state government
and is required to comply with all state contracting laws and
requirements, including CPRA, that requires public agencies to
provide records to the public upon request, the requirement to
secure DGS approval for all contracts valued at or above
$50,000, and the requirement to post information about contracts
valued at or above $5,000 on the eProcurement website managed by
DGS. Additionally, the Authority is subject to the requirements
set forth in the Public Contract Act as well as regulatory
requirements set forth in the State Contracting Manual.
Further, while the Authority may not be explicitly required to
release contract documents to the Legislature, the Legislature
may obtain this information from the Authority as part of its
oversight role.
This bill does little to provide increased scrutiny of the
Authority's contracting efforts and instead creates unnecessary
workload for the Authority (requiring them to copy and deliver
contract documents to the Legislature) since the Authority's
contract documents are already subject to review and approval by
DGS, are made available for public review, and may be reviewed
by the Legislature at any time, upon request.
Recent legislation : AB 842 (Donnelly) would prohibit the
expenditure of state and federal funds for high-speed rail in
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California. That bill failed passage on April 8, 2013 in the
Assembly Transportation Committee.
AB 441 (Patterson) is identical to AB 463 in that it would
require the Authority to provide the Legislature a copy of each
contract, contract amendment, and change order entered into by
the Authority if the dollar value of the goods or services is
$25,000 or more. At the request of the author that bill is now
a 2-year bill.
Previous legislation : AB 756 (Eng) of 2009, would have required
each state agency to provide a link to a centrally located and
accessible state-run Internet website that includes a list of
personal and consulting services contracts. That bill was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger on the ground that the bill
was duplicative of current reporting practices and would
increase workload and costs to departments.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093