BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2196 Hearing Date: June 14,
2016
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|Author: |Low |
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|Version: |6/8/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Manny Leon |
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SUBJECT: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
DIGEST: This bill makes a number of non-substantive changes to
the enabling statutes for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority (VTA). Additionally, this bill changes the bid
thresholds for contracts related to supplies, equipment, and
materials, as specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Creates the Santa Clara Valley Transit District and the VTA
with various duties relative to transportation projects,
planning and services, and the operation of public transit in
the County of Santa Clara.
2)Defines the Santa Clara Valley Transit District as meaning the
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.
3)Designates that the governing board of the district shall
consist of 12 members, with two representatives of the county
who shall be members of the board of supervisors, five
representatives of the city of San Jose who shall be city
council members, and five council members selected from among
the cities in the county other than the City of San Jose.
4)Requires VTA to let contracts for the purchase of supplies,
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equipment, and materials to the lowest responsible bidder or
to the bidder who submits a proposal that provides best value,
as defined, if the amount of the contract exceeds $100,000.
5)Requires VTA to obtain at least three quotations that permit
prices and terms to be compared whenever the expected
procurement is expected to cost between $2,500 and does not
exceed $100,000 for supplies, equipment, or materials.
This bill:
1)Clarifies that the mayor of a city is authorized to serve on
VTA's board of directors (Board of Directors) in the same
manner as city councilmembers.
2)Prohibits VTA from levying any tax unless approved by electors
voting on the measure in accordance with Article XIII C of the
California Constitution at a special election called for that
purpose by the Board of Directors.
3)Replaces references to the authority or district with VTA.
4)Replaces references to VTAs executive director with general
manager.
5)Deletes obsolete and outdated provisions of law regarding
reorganization and labor disputes.
6)Increases the bid threshold, from $100,000 to $150,000, above
which VTA must award contracts for supplies, equipment and
materials to the lowest responsible bidder or to the bidder
who submits a proposal that provides best value, as defined.
7)Increases, from $100,000 to $150,000, the maximum procurement
amount for supplies, equipment, or materials under which VTA
must obtain at least three quotations that permit prices and
terms to be compared.
AB 2196 (Low) Page 3 of ?
8)Increases, from $2,000 to $3,500, the minimum procurement
amount for supplies, equipment or materials above which VTA
must obtain at least three quotations that permit prices and
terms to be compared.
9)Makes other technical and conforming changes.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author asserts, "A comprehensive review and
clean-up of the underlying state statutes governing VTA has
not been done since the reorganization occurred more than 20
years ago. Therefore, AB 2196 has been introduced to make a
series of technical, non-substantive, clean-up changes to
VTA's enabling statutes that are intended to update provisions
that are outdated, delete provisions that are obsolete or
inoperable, and modify provisions that are unclear or
inconsistent."
2)A brief history of VTA. The Santa Clara County Transit
District was created through state legislation in 1969 to
provide public transit service for the communities of Santa
Clara County. In 1989, the Santa Clara County Congestion
Management Agency was created to implement the county's
congestion management program. Additionally, in the 1980s,
the Santa Clara County Traffic Authority was established to
oversee Measure A, a voter-approved half-cent sales tax
measure. In the mid-1990s Santa Clara County reorganized the
various transportation agencies and created the VTA to manage
and operate the county's transit system, serve as the
congestion management agency, develop the county's
transportation plan, and implement local sales tax measures
approved by voters.
3)Federal conformity. The Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)
is set by the federal government for its Simplified
Acquisition Procedures (SAP), which are designed to help
federal agencies meet their small business procurement
targets. SAPs employ streamlined contracting procedures for
contracts valued between $2,500 and $150,000, such as allowing
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quotations (including oral quotations) instead of requiring
full-blown bids, requiring less stringent reporting, and
setting simpler rules for subcontracting. Federal acquisition
thresholds are adjusted every five years and published in the
Federal Register. The latest adjustment in 2015 raised the
micro-purchase threshold to $3,500. The SAT ceiling remained
the same, at $150,000. This bill increases VTA's existing bid
thresholds for supplies, equipment, and materials to bring the
authority in alignment with federal regulations.
4)Technical clean-up. AB 2196 is a clean-up bill, making
various non-substantive changes to current VTA statues. A
comprehensive review and clean-up of the underlying statues
governing VTA has not been done since the reorganization of
the agency occurred. This bill is intended to update
provisions that are outdated, delete provisions that are
obsolete or inoperable, and modify provisions that are
inconsistent.
Related Legislation:
SB 1305 (Morrell) - consolidates a number of local
transportation entities in San Bernardino County into the San
Bernardino County Transportation Authority. This bill is
currently in the Assembly Transportation Committee.
AB 1889 (Mullin) - deletes obsolete provisions of law creating
the Peninsula Rail Transit District. This bill will also be
heard in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee today.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 79-0
Approps: 9-0
Trans: 16-0
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
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Wednesday,
June 8, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (Sponsor)
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION:
None recieved
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