BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 First Extraordinary
Bill No: SBX1 12 Hearing Date: 8/19/2015
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|Author: |Runner |
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|Version: |7/16/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Erin Riches |
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SUBJECT: California Transportation Commission
DIGEST: This bill makes the California Transportation
Commission (CTC) an independent agency and transfers
responsibility for the State Highway Operations and Protection
Program (SHOPP) from the state Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to the CTC.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law, the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 2012
(GRP 2), eliminated the Business, Transportation, and Housing
Agency (BTH) and established the California State Transportation
Agency (CalSTA). GRP 2, which became operative in July 2013,
transferred Caltrans, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the
California Highway Patrol, the Office of Traffic Safety, and the
Board of Pilot Commissioners from BTH to CalSTA. It also placed
the High-Speed Rail Authority and the CTC within CalSTA.
Existing law directs Caltrans to develop the SHOPP, a program of
major capital projects necessary to preserve and protect the
state highway system. Projects in the SHOPP are limited to
those that do not add new capacity to the system.
Existing law (SB 486, DeSaulnier, Chapter 917, Statutes of 2014)
requires Caltrans, in consultation with the CTC, to develop an
asset management plan to guide development of the SHOPP and
requires the CTC to adopt related targets and performance
SBX1 12 (Runner) Page 2 of ?
measures that reflect state policy goals and objectives. It
also vests the CTC with authority to review and approve the
final asset management plan. Caltrans must provide specific
project information in the SHOPP, including the capital and
support budget for each project and the projected delivery date
by project component, and is required to provide quarterly
reports to the CTC on the support budget and expenditures of
major SHOPP projects.
Existing law requires the CTC to review the SHOPP relative to
its overall adequacy, consistency with the asset management
plan, funding priorities, level of annual funding needed to
implement the program, and the impact of those expenditures on
the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which
focuses on regional and interregional transportation systems.
The CTC must adopt the SHOPP and submit it to the Legislature
and Governor by April 1 of each even-numbered year. The CTC may
decline to adopt the SHOPP if it determines that the program is
not sufficiently consistent with the asset management plan.
This bill:
1)Moves the CTC out of CalSTA and makes it an independent
agency.
2)Transfers responsibility for preparing the SHOPP, including
allocating funds to capital outlay support for each project,
from Caltrans to the CTC.
3)Requires Caltrans to submit its SHOPP recommendations to the
CTC by January 31 of each even-numbered year. Requires
Caltrans to provide to the CTC detailed information for all
recommended projects including, but not limited to, cost,
scope, and schedule.
4)Maintains the existing law requirement for the CTC to review
the SHOPP.
5)Provides that the CTC is not required to program a project
recommended by Caltrans and authorizes the CTC to program
projects not recommended by Caltrans.
6)Requires Caltrans to submit any changes in the cost, scope, or
schedule of a project in the SHOPP to the CTC for approval
prior to implementing the changes.
SBX1 12 (Runner) Page 3 of ?
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author states that although Californians pay
some of the highest taxes and fees in the country to support
the construction, maintenance, and repair of roads,
California's roads rank among the worst in the nation. A
recent report by the Reason Foundation concluded that overall,
California spends more than three times the national average
per mile, yet the state highway system ranks 45th in the
nation in overall performance and cost-effectiveness.
California spends nearly four times the national average on
maintenance and more than four times the national average on
administration. Based on current spending practices,
California faces an estimated shortfall of $59 billion over
the next 10 years to adequately maintain and repair the
state's highway system. Before increasing taxes and fees to
generate new revenues for the state's transportation
infrastructure, the author states that existing funds must be
spent appropriately and as efficiently as possible; this bill
will provide much-needed oversight and accountability of
Caltrans' billion-dollar SHOPP program and will help ensure
that Californians are getting the roads for which they are
paying.
2)Oversight for capital outlay support. In its 2014-15 Budget:
Capital Outlay Support Program Review, the Legislative
Analyst's Office (LAO) highlighted a lack of external
oversight on projects in the SHOPP, which it attributed to the
CTC's lack of authority to allocate capital outlay support
(COS) funds for the SHOPP. COS refers to the staff support
necessary to deliver a project, such as project design and
management, while capital outlay costs are incurred by
construction contractors for materials and labor to construct
a project. Typical SHOPP projects include pavement and bridge
rehabilitation, major reconstruction, and safety improvements.
The LAO recommended that the Legislature require the CTC to
allocate funds for each phase of a SHOPP project, including
COS resources. (Existing law authorizes the CTC to allocate
funds for capital outlay costs of the SHOPP, but not COS
costs.) The author states that this bill will provide the CTC
with the independence and authority to approve individual
projects, including COS expenditures, and provide increased
oversight and accountability of the SHOPP.
SBX1 12 (Runner) Page 4 of ?
3)SSTI recommendations. CalSTA recently contracted with a
management consultant, the State Smart Transportation
Initiative (SSTI), to conduct an external assessment of
Caltrans and provide recommendations for improving Caltrans'
performance. The SSTI review found that Caltrans has not kept
pace with changes in transportation policy and called for
reforms to modernize Caltrans' mission, strengthen its
performance, and help align Caltrans with the state's policy
goals. In response to the SSTI report, CalSTA formed five
workgroups to help implement various reforms at Caltrans. One
of these workgroups, which is focused on "smart investment and
resource alignment," is considering an SSTI recommendation to
allow the CTC to approve individual projects rather than
entire programs.
4)CTC independence. Prior to the establishment of CalSTA, the
CTC was not under the purview of any agency. The CTC and
others raised concerns that by incorporating the CTC into
CalSTA, GRP 2 might diminish the independence of the CTC. Not
only is the CTC viewed as an independent voice in reviewing
and approving the STIP and SHOPP, but it also provides an
avenue for regional planning agencies and self-help counties
to appeal disagreements with Caltrans. To help alleviate
these concerns, language was subsequently added to statute
stating that the CTC "shall retain independent authority to
perform these duties and functions prescribed to it under any
provision of law." This bill would once again make the CTC a
stand-alone entity.
5)Biting off more than it can chew? Currently, Caltrans
develops the SHOPP and submits it to the CTC for approval and
allocation. This bill would assign development of the SHOPP
to the CTC. The CTC is a very small agency, comprised of 19
positions, not all of which are currently filled. Although
development of the SHOPP would significantly increase the
CTC's workload, this bill does not propose to add any
positions to the CTC. To address this concern, the author
will accept amendments to instead require Caltrans to develop
the SHOPP, as is current practice.
6)Recent reforms. SB 486 (DeSaulnier, Chapter 917, Statutes of
2014) requires Caltrans, in consultation with the CTC, to
develop an asset management plan to guide development of the
SHOPP and requires the CTC to adopt related targets and
performance measures that reflect state policy goals and
SBX1 12 (Runner) Page 5 of ?
objectives. SB 486 specifically provides that the CTC may
decline to adopt the SHOPP if the CTC determines that it is
not sufficiently consistent with the asset management plan.
Prior to SB 486, the CTC could only approve or reject the
SHOPP its entirety. Because SB 486 authorizes the CTC to
"review and approve" the SHOPP, in theory the CTC could now
send the SHOPP back to Caltrans for revisions after review if
the CTC takes issue with any part of it. The author states
that the CTC should be able to simply reject individual
projects in the SHOPP, rather than risk slowing down the
process by sending the SHOPP back to Caltrans for revisions.
To help achieve the author's intent, the amendments will
explicitly authorize the CTC to reject individual projects
within the plan.
Related Legislation:
SB 151 (DeSaulnier, 2014) - would have required the CTC to
allocate funds for capital outlay and COS costs for projects in
the SHOPP and would have required supplemental allocations for
projects that exceed approved allocations. SB 151 was held on
the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.
SB 486 (DeSaulnier, Chapter 917, Statutes of 2014) - requires
Caltrans, in consultation with the CTC, to develop an asset
management plan to guide development of the SHOPP and requires
the CTC to adopt related targets and performance measures that
reflect state policy goals and objectives. It also vests the
CTC with authority to review and approve the final asset
management plan. SB 486 requires Caltrans to provide specific
project information in the SHOPP, including the capital and
support budget for each project and the projected delivery date
by project component, and imposes requirements on Caltrans to
report to the CTC on a quarterly basis on the support budget and
expenditures of major SHOPP projects.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Thursday,
August 13, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
SBX1 12 (Runner) Page 6 of ?
None received
OPPOSITION:
Sierra Club California
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