BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2411 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 2411 (Frazier) - As Introduced February 19, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Transportation |Vote:|16 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill deletes the statutory transfer of miscellaneous revenues within the State Highway Account (SHA) to the Transportation Debt Service Fund, and instead, retains these revenues in the SHA, to be used solely for purposes delineated in Article XIX of the California Constitution. FISCAL EFFECT: AB 2411 Page 2 Miscellaneous revenues to the SHA have ranged from $60 million to $70 million annually in the last four years. This bill would increase transportation funding by this amount and require a like amount of General Fund revenues to instead pay transportation bond debt service. COMMENTS: Background and Purpose. Article XIX of the state Constitution restricts the use of revenues from taxes imposed by the state on motor vehicle fuels to the research, planning, construction, improvement, maintenance, and operation of public streets and highways and exclusive public mass transit guideways, including mitigation of their environmental effects. These taxes are the main state source Caltrans' funding. Long-standing policy held that any money generated by Caltrans, for example, from document sales, property rentals, or surplus property sales (i.e miscellaneous revenue), was similarly Article XIX protected. To address the state's recent budget challenges, however, budget trailer bill legislation instead directed miscellaneous revenues toward retirement of debt on state transportation bonds. The author argues that, with the state's General Fund budget no longer in crisis and the state's large and growing unmet need for transportation funding, these annual revenues should once again be used for transportation needs. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 2411 Page 3