BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 716
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Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Norma Torres, Chair
AB 716 (Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: April 2, 2013
SUBJECT : Infrastructure plan: state planning and funding.
SUMMARY : Adds housing to the list of things considered to be
"infrastructure" for purposes of the state's 5-year
infrastructure plan and requires the Strategic Growth Council to
review and comment on the plan. Specifically, this bill :
1)Expands the definition of infrastructure for the purposes of
the states's 5-year infrastructure plan to include housing.
2)Requires the 5-year infrastructure plan to set out priorities
for coordination of investment.
3)Requires the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) to hold a public
hearing on the 5-year infrastructure plan and submit comments
to the Legislature prior to the Governor submitting the plan
to the Legislature.
4)Requires the SGC's comments to identify how the plan
components improve air and water quality, improve natural
resource protection, increase the availability of affordable
housing, improve transportation, meet the goals of the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32),
encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban
and community centers in a sustainable manner.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires the Governor to submit a proposed five-year
infrastructure plan to the Legislature on an annual basis in
conjunction with the Governor's Budget (Government Code
Section 13102).
2)Requires the plan to identify state infrastructure needs and
set out priorities for funding. Does not require the plan to
identify specific infrastructure projects to be funded, but
requires it to be sufficiently detailed to provide a clear
understanding of the type and amount of infrastructure to be
funded and the programmatic objectives to be achieved by that
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funding. (Government Code Section 13100).
3)Requires the infrastructure plan to include the following:
a) New, rehabilitated, modernized, improved, or renovated
infrastructure requested by state agencies;
b) Aggregate funding for transportation as identified in
the four-year State Transportation Improvement Program;
c) Infrastructure needs for K-12 public schools necessary
to accommodate increased enrollment, class size reduction,
and school modernization; and
d) The instructional and instructional support facilities
needs for the University of California, the California
State University, and the California Community Colleges.
(Government Code Section 13102)
4)Requires the plan to include the estimated cost of providing
the infrastructure and a proposal for funding the
infrastructure that includes all of the following:
a) Criteria and priorities used to identify and select the
infrastructure it does propose to fund, which for new,
rehabilitated, modernized, improved, or renovated
infrastructure requested by state agencies must be
consistent with the state planning priorities;
b) Sources of funding, including, but not limited to,
General Fund, state special funds, federal funds, general
obligation bonds, lease revenue bonds, and installment
purchases;
c) An evaluation of the impact of the new state debt on the
state's existing overall debt position if the plan proposes
the issuance of new state debt; and
d) Recommended specific projects for funding or the
recommended type and amount of infrastructure to be funded
in order to meet programmatic objectives, which must be
identified in the proposal.
(Government Code Section 13102)
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5)Requires any capital outlay or local assistance appropriations
intended to fund infrastructure included in the Governor's
Budget to derive from, and be encompassed by, the funding
proposal contained in the plan (Government Code Section
13102).
6)Defines "infrastructure" to mean real property, including land
and improvements to the land, structures and equipment
integral to the operation of structures, easements,
rights-of-way and other forms of interest in property,
roadways, and water conveyances (Government Code Section
13101).
7)Requires a state agency that requests new, rehabilitated,
modernized, improved, or renovated infrastructure to specify
how that infrastructure is consistent with the state planning
priorities (Government Code Section 13103).
8)Establishes the state planning priorities, which are intended
to promote equity, strengthen the economy, protect the
environment, and promote public health and safety in the
state, as follows:
a) To promote infill development and equity by
rehabilitating, maintaining, and improving existing
infrastructure that supports infill development and
appropriate reuse and redevelopment of previously
developed, underutilized land that is presently served by
transit, streets, water, sewer, and other essential
services, particularly in underserved areas, and to
preserve cultural and historic resources;
b) To protect environmental and agricultural resources by
protecting, preserving, and enhancing the state's most
valuable natural resources, including working landscapes
such as farm, range, and forest lands, natural lands such
as wetlands, watersheds, wildlife habitats, and other
wildlands, recreation lands such as parks, trails,
greenbelts, and other open space, and landscapes with
locally unique features and areas identified by the state
as deserving special protection; and
c) To encourage efficient development patterns by ensuring
that any infrastructure associated with development, other
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than infill development, supports new development that does
all of the following: uses land efficiently, is built
adjacent to existing developed areas to the extent
consistent with the need to protect environmental and
agricultural resources, is located in an area appropriately
planned for growth, is served by adequate transportation
and other essential utilities and services, and minimizes
ongoing costs to taxpayers.
(Government Code Section 65041.1)
9)Establishes the SGC, consisting of the director of the
Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the
secretaries of the Resources Agency, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Health and Human Services Agency, and
the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, and one
member of the public to be appointed by the Governor. The
council is tasked with identifying and reviewing activities
and funding programs of member state agencies that may be
coordinated to improve air and water quality, improve natural
resource protection, increase the availability of affordable
housing, improve transportation, meet the goals of the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32),
encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban
and community centers in a sustainable manner. (Public
Resources Code Section 75120, et seq.)
10)Requires the SGC, at a minimum, to review and comment on the
five-year infrastructure plan and the State Environmental
Goals and Policies Report that OPR is required to prepare
every four years (Public Resources Code Section 75125).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Current law requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature
an annual plan detailing the state's infrastructure needs over
the next five years, which is supposed to be considered by the
Legislature in conjunction with the Budget. The plan is intended
to provide a broad overview of the state's needs related to
publicly funded infrastructure. The SGC is required to review
and comment on the plan.
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The current 5-year infrastructure planning requirement, added to
the law in 1999 [AB 1473 (Hertzberg), Chapter 606, Statutes of
1999] replaced a requirement for the Department of Finance to
prepare an annual report projecting the state's potential need
for financing major capital outlay and infrastructure projects
over the next 10 years. The Department of Finance prepared plans
under the current law in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008, and
has indicated that it will submit a plan in 2013.
AB 716 would make several changes related to the
5-year-infrastructure plan. It would require the plan to set our
priorities for coordinating investments in infrastructure. It
would add housing to the list of items considered to be
infrastructure for purposes of the plan. Finally, it would
require the SGC to hold a public hearing on the plan and submit
comments to the Legislature prior to the Governor submitting the
plan to the Legislature. The SGC is already required to review
and comment on the plan, but it is not currently required to
hold a public hearing, nor does the law currently specify that
the SGC's review should happen prior to the plan being submitted
to the Legislature.
According to the author, "The California Infrastructure Planning
Act needs to be updated to better address the complexities
associated with state planning. AB 716 provides changes to the
act to better achieve coordination of the investments and
provides an opportunity to take into consideration the land-use
impacts of housing on state priorities."
Double-referral : This bill was also referred to the Committee on
Budget, where it will be heard should it pass out of this
committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Planning Association, California Chapter
Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / H. & C.D. / (916)
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319-2085