BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 730
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 730 (Alejo)
          As Amended  September 3, 2013
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |49-23|(May 16, 2013)  |SENATE: |27-11|(September 9,  |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2013)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    TRANS  .

           SUMMARY  :  Expands the Monterey-Salinas Transit District's (MST)  
          authority to issue revenue bonds.  

           The Senate amendments  clarify that any bonds issued to acquire  
          equipment must be for a duration that does not exceed the useful  
          life of the equipment.  
           
            EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Creates MST with specified powers and duties relative to  
            providing transit services in the Monterey region.  

          2)Authorizes MST to issues revenue bonds under the Revenue Bond  
            Law of 1941, payable from revenue of any facility or  
            enterprise of MST.  

          3)Authorizes MST to temporarily borrow money in accordance with  
            various provisions of the Government Code applicable to local  
            agencies.  

          4)Establishes Caltrans to, among other responsibilities, manage  
            the state highway system (which includes the California  
            freeway and expressway system) and provide funding and  
            coordination of intercity rail passenger services within the  
            state.  

          5)Designates the Transportation Agency of Monterey County as the  
            state designated regional transportation planning agency to  
            perform transportation planning activities for the County and  
            Cities of Monterey County.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the  
          Legislative Counsel.  








                                                                  AB 730
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           COMMENTS  :  This bill expands the ability of MST to issue revenue  
          bonds directly by bypassing certain provisions of the Revenue  
          Bond Law of 1941, especially the requirement to secure voter  
          approval for the issuance of revenue bonds.  Instead, the bill  
          authorizes MST to issue revenue bonds subject to a two-thirds  
          vote of the MST board.  Many other metropolitan transit  
          districts, such as Orange County Transit District, San Diego  
          County Regional Transportation Commission, and San Francisco Bay  
          Area Rapid Transit District, already possess similar means of  
          issuing bonds directly without approval by the local voters.   
          This bill is patterned after legislation enacted last year that  
          provided similar authority to the Sacramento Regional Transit  
          District.  

          Additionally, this bill updates MST's array of temporary  
          borrowing tools allowing it to pledge revenues or other moneys  
          available to it from any source, including a transactions and  
          use tax, as payment of the revenue bonds.  

          The author claims that "Monterey County does not have a local  
          sales tax dedicated to public transit purposes and, as a result,  
          MST receives far less local tax support and is more dependent  
          upon state and federal sources than its peers."  Further, he  
          indicates that one-third of their bus fleet is operating beyond  
          their federally-designated "useful life," and that their  
          maintenance facilities are similarly operating beyond the  
          original design capacities and are in need of upgrade or  
          replacement in order to meet growing demands for transit within  
          the community.  He believes that this bill will provide MST  
          similar authority granted to other transit districts and provide  
          MST with greater flexibility in utilizing bond debt to raise  
          required capital funds for infrastructure and transit equipment,  
          such as buses.  

           Related bills  :  AB 1143 (Dickinson), Chapter 537, Statutes of  
          2011, allowed the Sacramento Regional Transit District to issue  
          revenue bonds with a two-thirds vote of its board.  

          AB 644 (Caballero), Chapter 460, Statutes of 2009; created the  
          MST.  
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 









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