BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUDGET AND FISCAL REVIEW
Senator Mark Leno, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 95 Hearing Date: June 15,
2015
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|Author: |Committee on Budget |
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|Version: |January 7, 2015 Introduced |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Farra Bracht |
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Subject: Budget Act of 2015.
Summary: Provides for statutory changes necessary to enact the
transportation provisions of the Budget Act of 2015.
Background: As part of the 2015-16 budget package, AB 95 makes statutory
changes to implement the budget act.
Proposed
Law: This bill makes all of the following statutory changes:
1. State Transit Assistance Eligibility Funding. Provides a
one year extension of an exemption to allow transit
operators whose cost increases have exceeded the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) to continue using State Transit
Assistance funding for both operating and capital
expenditures.
2. Elimination of Various Unnecessary Transportation Funds.
Abolishes the Transportation Investment Fund, the
Pedestrian Safety Account, and the Clean Renewable Energy
Bonds Subaccount in the Special Deposit Fund. These funds
are no longer necessary because the funding for these
programs has been exhausted or nearly exhausted and there
is no new funding source available.
3. High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group Member Qualifications.
Modifies the requirements of the qualifications of specific
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peer review group members to broaden eligibility to include
experience with large infrastructure projects and
experience governing intercity commuter passenger train
services. These changes will help to better ensure that
these critical oversight positions remain filled.
4. High-Speed Rail Reporting Requirements. Simplifies the
High-Speed Rail Authority's reporting requirements to align
with the business plan's release, which is every other
year, and repeals the requirement for the staff management
report. Information on staff hired and vacancies filled is
available as part of monthly board meeting reports and the
authority has addressed the problems which necessitated
this reporting requirement.
5. Fish Passage Barriers. Extends the requirement that
Caltrans' report annually on Caltrans' fish passage
barriers from 2020 to 2025; requires the reports issued
after October 31, 2016 to include a status report on the
most significant fish barrier projects, as identified by
the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), that provides
information such as whether or not funding has been
committed to projects, sources of funding, status of
maintenance or other remediation actions, and estimated
completion dates of the projects; and requires Caltrans to
prioritize and expedite the remediation of fish passage
barriers identified by DFW. This bill also appropriates on
a one-time basis $5 million from the State Highway Account
for the remediation of fish barriers.
6. Intercity Rail Reporting. Requires Caltrans to report,
by April 1, 2016, to the Legislature on potential benefits
to safety, greenhouse gas reduction, service levels, and
operating costs by improving grade separations at key
intersections, as defined by the Federal Railroad
Administration, along the state's intercity rail system.
7. Cap on Clean Air Vehicle Program. Increases the cap on
the "green sticker" Clean Air Vehicle program from 70,000
to 85,000. This program allows certain low-emission and
energy-efficient vehicles with a single occupant to use
high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
8. Tower Bridge Relinquishment. Authorizes the California
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Transportation Commission to relinquish the Tower Bridge to
one or more cities in which it is located. These cities are
Sacramento and West Sacramento.
9. Walerga Park Soundwall. States that the Sacramento
County Board of Supervisors may allocate up to $700,000
from the transportation funds allocated to Sacramento
County, or from other transportation funds available to the
county, for the purpose of building a soundwall in and
around the Walerga Park area.
Fiscal
Effect: The funding related to the changes in this bill is contained
in the 2015-16 budget.
Support: None on file.
Opposed: None on file.
Comments: This bill provides the necessary statutory references to enact
the 2015-16 budget related to transportation.
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