Amended in Senate September 3, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 First Extraordinary Session

Senate Bill No. 13

Introduced by Senator Vidak

(Coauthors: Senators Anderson, begin insert Bates, end insert Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Runner, and Stone)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members begin delete Baker and Bigelow end delete begin insert Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Gallagher, and Lackey end insert )

July 16, 2015

An act to add Part 5.1 (commencing with Section 14460) to Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 13, as amended, Vidak. Office of the Transportation Inspector General.

Existing law creates various state transportation agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the High-Speed Rail Authority, with specified powers and duties. Existing law provides for the allocation of state transportation funds to various transportation purposes.

This bill would create the Office of the Transportation Inspector General in state begin delete government end delete begin insert government, end insert as an independent office that would not be a subdivision of any other government entity, begin insert to build capacity for self-correction into the government itself and end insert to ensure that all state agencies expending state transportation funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with federal and state laws. The bill would provide for the Governor to appoint the Transportation Inspector General for a 6-year term, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and would provide that the Transportation Inspector General may not be removed from office during the term except for good cause. The bill would specify the duties and responsibilities of the Transportation Inspector General, would require an annual report to the Legislature and Governor, and would provide that funding for the office shall, to the extent possible, be from federal transportation funds, with other necessary funding to be made available from the State Highway Account and an account from which high-speed rail activities may be funded.

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Over the next 10 years, the state faces a $59 billion shortfall
to adequately maintain the state highway system in a basic state
of good repair.

begin delete

(b) There is within the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
a culture of waste and fraud, as exemplified by exposure of the
deficiencies in the construction of the replacement span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the efforts to internally conceal
those deficiencies, falsified data in the testing of bridge safety, and
Caltrans employees consuming alcohol while on the job, misusing
state assets, and moonlighting on state time.

end delete begin insert

(b) Numerous audits and reports over the past three years have
highlighted inefficiencies and instances of waste within California’s
transportation agencies.

end insert

(c) The 21st Annual Highway Report by the Reason Foundation,
published in September 2014, found the following:

(1) California has 50,462 lane miles of highways under the
administration of begin delete Caltrans. end delete begin insert the Department of Transportation
(Caltrans). end insert

(2) Overall, California spent $501,136 per state mile of highway,
more than three times the national average, yet California’s state
highway system ranks 45th in overall performance and cost
effectiveness.

(3) California spent $102,889 per state mile of highway
specifically on maintenance, nearly four times the national average.

(4) California spent $48,754 per state mile of highway
specifically on administration, more than four times the national
average.

(d) The Legislative Analyst’s Office included the following
concerns and recommendations related to Caltrans’ accountability
and efficiency in the Capital Outlay Support Program Review
report issued in May 2014:

(1) Data used to request budgetary resources for the program
is largely unreliable due to a lack of internal control, lack of data
collection, and an incentive to report inaccurate data.

(2) Steps should be taken to improve data quality for the
program.

(e) A Transportation Inspector General should be established
to independently investigate Caltrans, identify waste and
inefficiencies, begin delete and end delete report and make recommendations to the
begin delete Legislature. end delete begin insert Legislature, and build capacity for self-correction
into the government itself. end insert

SEC. 2.  

Part 5.1 (commencing with Section 14460) is added
to Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

 

PART 5.1.  OFFICE OF THE TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR
GENERAL

 

14460.  

(a) There is hereby created in state government the
independent Office of the Transportation Inspector General, which
shall not be a subdivision of any other governmental entity, begin insert to
build capacity for self-correction into the government itself and end insert
to ensure that the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed
Rail Authority, and all other state agencies expending state
transportation funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in
compliance with applicable federal and state laws.

(b) The Governor shall appoint, subject to confirmation by the
Senate, the Transportation Inspector General to a six-year term.
The Transportation Inspector General may not be removed from
office during that term, except for good cause.

14461.  

The Transportation Inspector General shall review
policies, practices, and procedures, and conduct audits and
investigations of activities involving state transportation funds in
consultation with all affected state agencies. Specifically, the
Transportation Inspector General’s duties and responsibilities shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(a) To examine the operating practices of the Department of
Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, and all other state
agencies expending state transportation funds to identify fraud and
waste, opportunities for efficiencies, and opportunities to improve
the data used to determine appropriate project resource allocations.

(b) To identify best practices in the delivery of transportation
projects and develop policies or recommend proposed legislation
enabling state agencies to adopt these practices when practicable.

(c) To provide objective analysis of, and when possible, offer
solutions to, concerns raised by the public or generated within
agencies involving the state’s transportation infrastructure and
project delivery methods.

(d) To conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and
investigations relating to the programs and operations of all state
transportation agencies with state-funded transportation projects.

(e) To recommend policies promoting economy and efficiency
in the administration of programs and operations of all state
agencies with state-funded transportation projects.

14462.  

The Transportation Inspector General’s office shall not
conduct begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert audit or investigation that would be redundant to
or concurrent with begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert audit or investigation of the same matter
being conducted contemporaneously by another state entity, or
planned to be initiated pursuant to state or federal law or adopted
agency board policy, within 18 months of the notification of the
intent to undertake the audit or investigation by the Transportation
Inspector General. The state entity shall provide the Transportation
Inspector General with a summary of the results of the audit or
investigation upon its completion, if requested.

14463.  

(a) The Transportation Inspector General shall report
annually to the Governor and Legislature with a summary of his
or her findings, investigations, and audits. The summary shall be
posted on the Transportation Inspector General’s Internet Web
site and shall otherwise be made available to the public upon its
release to the Governor begin delete and end delete

begin delete Legislature. end delete begin insert and Legislature. end insert The summary shall include, but
need not be limited to, significant problems discovered by the
Transportation Inspector General and whether recommendations
of the Transportation Inspector General relative to investigations
and audits have been implemented by the affected agencies. The
report shall be submitted to the Legislature begin delete pursuant to end delete begin insert in
compliance with end insert Section 9795.

(b) The Transportation Inspector General shall, in consultation
with the Department of Finance, develop a methodology for
producing a workload budget to be used for annually adjusting the
budget of the Office of the Transportation Inspector General,
beginning with the budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. To the
extent possible, the office shall be funded with federal
transportation funds. Should federal funding not be available to
fully fund the office, funding shall be made available, in proportion
to the activities of the office, from the State Highway Account and
an account from which high-speed rail activities may be funded.