BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: SB 231 Hearing Date: 4/28/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Gaines | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/20/2015 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Erin Riches | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Transportation funding: ferries DIGEST: This bill clarifies that ferries are eligible for funding under the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program and revises the State Transit Assistance formula to increase funding to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. ANALYSIS: The 2014-15 budget agreement established the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC) under the Strategic Growth Council. This program provides grants to local agencies for projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through land use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation. Eligible projects include infill housing development, transit projects to support ridership, and active transportation projects. The 2014-15 budget agreement provides for a continuous appropriation of 20% of cap-and-trade funds to AHSC beginning in 2015-16. The 2014-15 budget agreement also established the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) under the California State Transportation Agency. This program provides operating and capital assistance to transit agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility. Eligible projects include expanded, new, or enhanced transit services; conversion or retrofit of transit vehicles and equipment to zero-emission; expanded intermodal transit facilities; and infrastructure to SB 231 (Gaines) Page 2 of ? support zero-emission or plug-in hybrid vehicles. The 2014-15 budget agreement provides for a continuous appropriation of 5% of cap-and-trade funds to LCTOP beginning in 2015-16. The State Transit Assistance program (STA) provides funding for local transit operations and capital improvements. This program is funded by diesel sales tax revenues, which are deposited into the Public Transportation Account and allocated to local recipients (primarily transit operators) through a statutory formula based on population and operating revenues. This bill: 1)Makes commuter ferries eligible for funding under AHSC and LCTOP. 2)Establishes a population in statute for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), on which the STA funding formula will be based beginning in 2015-16. Requires the Controller to make any additional allocations to TRPA, as required by the formula, solely from the state portion of revenues in the Public Transportation Account. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. The author states that although the Tahoe Basin has a resident population of approximately 55,000, the area's transportation system must accommodate up to 350,000 visitors on a "peak" day due to its popularity as a recreation destination and its proximity to major urban areas. Although Tahoe is classified as a rural area, it needs an urban level of transportation infrastructure to adequately serve its visitors and residents. This bill establishes a TRPA population of 145,000, which the Tahoe Transportation District, the sponsor of this bill, determined based on annualized visitor travel to the region. The higher population level will help TRPA obtain needed additional transit funding. This bill also expressly makes ferry transit systems throughout the state eligible for AHSC and LCTOP, which could help fund the Tahoe Transportation District's north-south ferry project. 2)Expansion of AHSC and LCTOP? While ferries are not specifically listed in the LCTOP authorizing statute, they are mentioned multiple times in the program guidelines. The AHSC SB 231 (Gaines) Page 3 of ? guidelines do not reference ferries and focus primarily on transit stations; ferry eligibility would likely be limited to ferry terminals. In both cases, this bill does not appropriate any funds to ferries, but makes ferry projects eligible for these programs. Commuter ferries are generally considered transit, and this bill uses the statutory term "water-borne transit" to ensure that tourist ferries continue to be excluded from funding eligibility. 3)Winners and losers? The STA provision of this bill specifically requires that any additional revenues allocated to TRPA based on the revised population shall come from the state portion of the Public Transportation Account rather than the local portion. The author and sponsor state that this requirement is intended to ensure that no local transit operators are negatively impacted by an increase in funds to TRPA. The state portion of Public Transportation Account funds goes primarily to state planning efforts and the Intercity Rail Program. Note, however, that by revising the STA formula to increase funding to TRPA, this bill effectively also increases LCTOP funding to TRPA, since LCTOP funding is based on the STA formula. 4)Opposition. The California Association for Coordinated Transportation, writing in opposition to this bill, states that "There are many operators that experience significant population increases on a daily or weekly basis due to job centers or tourism demands. SB 231 would select one agency to receive a bump in transit operating funds without taking into consideration the needs of other operators. This would set a dangerous precedent, which would force all transit operators to seek similar dispensation." The committee may wish to consider the policy merits of making an exception for one agency in a statewide formula. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.) SUPPORT: SB 231 (Gaines) Page 4 of ? Tahoe Transportation District (sponsor) California Tahoe Alliance City of South Lake Tahoe International Longshore and Warehouse Union North Lake Tahoe Resort Association San Francisco Water Emergency Transportation Authority Tahoe City Public Utility District Tahoe Resource Conservation District OPPOSITION: California Association for Coordinated Transportation -- END --