BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 110|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 110
Author: Steinberg (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 4/2/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/15/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SUBJECT : California Transportation Commission: guidelines
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : 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 CTC 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
11 voting members, two ex officio, non-voting members sit on the
CTC; typically these individuals are the chairs of the
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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:
1. 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 ensure that agencies adopt regulations that are clear,
necessary, and legally valid.
2. Sets forth a process governing the CTC's adoption of
guidelines, other than guidelines adopted to implement the
STIP, as follows:
A. 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 CTC's executive director
must distribute any recommendations and communications
with legal counsel to all commissioners.
B. CTC staff shall present proposed guidelines at a CTC
meeting for the purpose of receiving public comment.
C. Proposed guidelines must include a notice of the
public's right to comment on the guidelines.
D. 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.
E. Following the close of the public comment period, CTC
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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.
3. The CTC must adopt the guidelines by a majority of its
membership.
4. 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.
5. 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.
Comments
Purpose . The author's office 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.
Previous legislation . Several identical versions of this bill
have been passed by the Senate. In 2010, the Legislature
unanimously passed SB 1348 (Steinberg, 2010), but Governor
Schwarzenegger vetoed it. In 2011, the Senate unanimously
passed SB 126 (Steinberg, 2011), but it was later amended in the
Assembly to deal with a different subject. In 2012, the Senate
unanimously passed SB 749 (Steinberg, 2012), but it was not set
for hearing in Assembly Transportation Committee at the request
of the author.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, potential
costs in the range of $50,000 to $70,000 (State Highway Account)
related to CTC legal staff review of new program guidelines or
revisions to existing program guidelines. Actual costs in any
given year would depend upon the number and complexity of
guidelines up for review.
OPPOSITION : (Verified 4/16/13)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "SB 110 is
identical to SB 749 (Steinberg, 2012) and SB 1348 (Steinberg,
2010). These bills were introduced to address an issue raised
in 2007 when the CTC attempted to adopt guidelines for the
Corridor Mobility Improvement Account programs without releasing
the draft guidelines in advance of the public meeting at which a
vote to adopt the program was to occur. Additionally, the CTC
was close to adopting guidelines for its public private
partnership guidelines without sufficient opportunity for public
review and comment. In this case, the CTC ultimately did delay
guideline adoption, but the process being used was clearly
flawed."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is opposed
to this bill because it will result in additional costs to the
CTC and appears unnecessary since the process established by
this bill is very similar to the current
process adhered to by the CTC when adopting guidelines.
JA:k 4/16/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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