BILL NUMBER: AB 1889	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mullin

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act  to repeal Division 16 (commencing with Section 160000)
of the Public Utilities Code,   relating to transportation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1889, as amended, Mullin.  Transportation funding:
CalTrain.   Peninsula Rail Transit District.  
   Existing law, operative under certain conditions, redesignates the
Peninsula Corridor Study Joint Powers Board as the Peninsula Rail
Transit District, comprised of 9 members appointed from various
governing bodies situated in the City and County of San Francisco and
the Counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara, with specified powers.
 
   This bill would repeal obsolete provisions relating to the
Peninsula Rail Transit District.  
   Existing law provides for the creation of the Peninsula Corridor
Joint Powers Board, which operates CalTrain as the commuter rail
service along the San Francisco Peninsula commute corridor. 

   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to provide the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board with
the necessary tools to explore options that will help CalTrain
obtain a dedicated source of funding. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION   1   .    Division 16
(commencing with Section 160000) of the   Public Utilities
Code   is repealed.  
  SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
   (a) CalTrain is the only transit system in the San Francisco Bay
area without a permanent, dedicated source of funding. Other agencies
rely on money from sales taxes, property taxes, state funding, and
other sources.
   (b) As a result of not having a dedicated source of funding,
CalTrain has been wrestling with a continuing fiscal crisis - a
budget that starts out short of funds every year.
   (c) For the last several years, ____ percent of CalTrain's annual
operating budget has been covered by passenger fares, parking fees,
and other revenues. Annual contributions from the three partners in
the CalTrain system have been in the range of 40 percent.
   (d) With a dedicated source of funding, CalTrain could more
readily meet the demands of more than 60,000 daily riders that depend
on CalTrain to get from their homes to some of the nation's most
high-profile companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
   (e) The ability of the region's infrastructure to keep pace with
job and population growth continues to be one of the biggest barriers
to sustained economic growth and competitiveness in the San
Francisco Bay area. By providing a reliable daily commute alternative
for residents and employees avoiding the congested Interstate 280
and 101 corridors, CalTrain has become one of the San Francisco Bay
area's fastest growing transit systems.
   (f) Dedicated funding will support CalTrain's ability to remain
the transit backbone of the San Francisco Peninsula commute corridor
and better serve the needs of the region.
   (g) CalTrain is managed by a Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
(JPB) that consists of a partnership between the San Mateo County
Transit District (SamTrans), the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority (VTA), and the City and County of San Francisco through the
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). 

  SEC. 2.   It is the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation to provide the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers
Board with the necessary tools to explore options obtain a dedicated
source of funding.