BILL NUMBER: AB 1813	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Frazier

                        FEBRUARY 8, 2016

   An act to amend Sections 185020 and 185022 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to high-speed rail.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1813, as introduced, Frazier. High-Speed Rail Authority:
membership.
   Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with specified
powers and duties relative to development and implementation of a
high-speed train system. The authority is composed of 9 members,
including 5 members appointed by the Governor, and 2 members each
appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the
Assembly.
   This bill would additionally provide for appointment of one Member
of the Senate by the Senate Committee on Rules and one Member of the
Assembly by the Speaker of the Assembly to serve as ex officio
members of the authority. The bill would provide that the ex officio
members shall participate in the activities of the authority to the
extent that participation is not incompatible with their positions as
Members of the Legislature.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 185020 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
   185020.  (a) There is in the Transportation Agency a High-Speed
Rail Authority.
   (b) (1) The authority is composed of  nine  
11  members as follows:
   (A) Five members appointed by the Governor.
   (B) Two members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
   (C) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. 
   (D) One Member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules and one Member of the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly shall be ex officio members without vote and shall
participate in the activities of the authority to the extent that
participation is not incompatible with their positions as Members of
the Legislature. 
   (2) For the purposes of making appointments to the
authority,   authority pursuant to subparagraphs (A),
(B), and (C) of paragraph (1),  the Governor, the Senate
Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the Assembly shall take into
consideration geographical diversity to ensure that all regions of
the state are adequately represented.
   (c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), and until their
successors are appointed, members of the  authority 
 authority, other than ex officio members,  shall hold
office for terms of four years. A vacancy shall be filled by the
appointing power making the original appointment, by appointing a
member to serve the remainder of the term.
   (d) (1) On and after January 1, 2001, the terms of all persons who
are then members of the authority shall expire, but those members
may continue to serve until they are reappointed or until their
successors are appointed. In order to provide for evenly staggered
terms, persons appointed or reappointed to the authority after
January 1, 2001, shall be appointed to initial terms to expire as
follows:
   (A) Of the five persons appointed by the Governor, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2002, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2003, one shall be
appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2004, and two shall
be appointed to terms which expires on December 31, 2005.
   (B) Of the two persons appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules,
one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2002,
and one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31,
2004.
   (C) Of the two persons appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly,
one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31, 2003,
and one shall be appointed to a term which expires on December 31,
2005.
   (2) Following expiration of each of the initial terms provided for
in this subdivision, the term shall expire every four years
thereafter on December 31.
   (e) Members of the authority are subject to the Political Reform
Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000)).
   (f) From among its  voting  members, the authority shall
elect a chairperson, who shall preside at all meetings of the
authority, and a vice chairperson to preside in the absence of the
chairperson. The chairperson shall serve a term of one year.
   (g) Five  voting  members of the authority constitute a
quorum for taking any action by the authority.
  SEC. 2.  Section 185022 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
   185022.  (a) Each  voting  member of the authority shall
receive compensation of one hundred dollars ($100) for each day that
the member is attending to the business of the authority, but shall
not receive more than five hundred dollars ($500) in any calendar
month.
   (b)  Members   Voting members  of the
authority shall be reimbursed for their actual travel expenses
incurred in attending to the business of the authority.