BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 110
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: steinberg
VERSION: 1/14/13
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 2, 2013
SUBJECT:
California Transportation Commission: guidelines
DESCRIPTION:
This bill establishes procedures for the California
Transportation Commission (CTC) to use in adopting guidelines.
ANALYSIS:
The Legislature established the CTC in statute in 1978 to help
achieve a single, unified state transportation policy. The
commission programs and allocates funds for highway, passenger
rail, and transit construction and improvement projects
throughout the state. The CTC also advises the Legislature and
the Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing on
transportation policy and programs. The Governor appoints nine
members to the CTC; the Senate Rules Committee and Assembly
Speaker each appoint two members. In addition to these nine
voting members, two ex officio, non-voting members sit on the
CTC; typically these individuals are the chairs of the
respective policy committees in each house of the Legislature.
Existing law authorizes the CTC to adopt policy guidelines for
various transportation programs, but provides little direction
on how the adoption process should occur. Among the programs
for which the CTC adopts guidelines are the State Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP) and regional transportation planning
processes.
This bill :
Exempts the CTC in adopting guidelines from the Administrative
Procedures Act (APA). The APA establishes rulemaking
procedures and standards for California's state agencies. It
is designed to provide ample opportunity for public
participation in the regulation adoption process, and to
SB 110 (STEINBERG) Page 2
ensure that agencies adopt regulations that are clear,
necessary, and legally valid.
Sets forth a process governing the CTC's adoption of
guidelines, other than guidelines adopted to implement the
STIP, as follows:
o The CTC's legal counsel shall review proposed guidelines
for necessity, authority, clarity, consistency, reference,
and redundancy and recommend any changes to the CTC
commissioners. Comments and recommendations made by legal
counsel shall be subject to attorney-client privilege,
unless waived. The commission's executive director must
distribute any recommendations and communications with
legal counsel to all commissioners.
o CTC staff shall present proposed guidelines at a CTC
meeting for the purpose of receiving public comment.
o Proposed guidelines must include a notice of the
public's right to comment on the guidelines.
o At least 45 days prior to the adoption of guidelines,
the CTC must distribute, and make available in electronic
format, copies of the proposed guidelines for public
review.
o Following the close of the public comment period, CTC
staff must summarize all comments and explain any
recommended changes to the guidelines in response to those
comments. Staff recommendations and a summary must be made
public 15 days prior to a regular CTC meeting.
The CTC must adopt the guidelines by a majority of its
membership.
Requires the CTC to maintain complete files on guideline
adoption proceedings, including a summary of each objection or
recommendation made and an explanation of how the proposed
guidelines were changed to accommodate each objection or
recommendation or the reason no change was made.
Requires the CTC to include in its annual report to the
Legislature an accounting of its activities related to
guideline adoption during the prior year.
SB 110 (STEINBERG) Page 3
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author notes that although the CTC has increased
the number of guidelines it has adopted in recent years, it
does not have a formal procedure for adopting these
guidelines. Recent court decisions have ruled that
administrative regulations are an extension of statute and
therefore carry the weight of law. Policy guidelines, even
when mandated by a statute, are an elaboration of policy and
do not have the weight of law. Typically, public agencies,
therefore, adopt guidelines through a relatively informal
process as compared to the process for regulations.
2.Previous legislation . Several identical versions of this bill
have been passed by this committee. In 2010, the Legislature
unanimously passed SB 1348 (Steinberg), but Governor
Schwarzenegger vetoed it. In 2011, the Senate unanimously
passed SB 126 (Steinberg), but it was later amended in the
Assembly to deal with a different subject. In 2012, the
Senate unanimously passed SB 749 (Steinberg), but it was not
set for hearing in Assembly Transportation Committee at the
request of the author.
SB 110 (STEINBERG) Page 4
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, March 27,
2013.)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.