BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 951 Hearing Date: 3/29/2016
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|Author: |McGuire |
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|Version: |3/17/2016 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Erin Riches |
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SUBJECT: Transportation: Golden State Patriot Passes Program
DIGEST: This bill creates a pilot program to provide veterans
with free access to transit services.
ANALYSIS:
AB 32 (Núñez and Pavley, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006) requires
the state Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop a plan to reduce
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It also requires ARB to
ensure that programs to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
are targeted, to the extent feasible, to the most disadvantaged
communities (DACs) in the state. AB 32 authorizes ARB to
deposit any fees paid by GHG emission sources into the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
SB 535 (De León, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012) requires 25% of
GGRF funds to be allocated to projects that provide benefits to
DACs, and at least 10% to projects located within DACs. DACs
were identified by the California Environmental Protection
Agency using census tract data based on geographic,
socioeconomic, public health, and environmental hazard criteria.
The 2014-15 budget agreement provides that for 2015-16 and
beyond, 25% of GGRF revenues shall be appropriated to the
state's high-speed rail project, 20% for affordable housing and
sustainable communities grants, 10% to intercity capital rail
projects, and 5% for low-carbon transit operations. The
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remaining 40% is available for annual appropriation by the
Legislature.
This bill:
1)Creates a pilot program, the Golden State Patriot Passes
Program, to be administered by the state Department of
Transportation (Caltrans).
2)Provides an annual appropriation of $3 million in GGRF monies
for fiscal years 2017-18 to 2020-21 for this program.
3)Requires Caltrans, in coordination with ARB, to develop
guidelines for participating transit providers to demonstrate
that proposed expenditures will reduce GHG emissions and
increase veteran mobility.
4)Requires Caltrans, by January 1, 2018, to select three transit
operator applicants to receive program funding. Specifically:
a) Prohibits Caltrans from selecting an applicant that
already provides veterans with free access to transit
services in its service area.
b) Requires Caltrans to select applicants that serve
entirely different counties.
c) Provides that Caltrans shall select one applicant that
primarily serves an urban area, one that primarily serves a
suburban area, and one that primarily serves a rural area
(to be defined by Caltrans based on Census data). Sets
maximum allocations of $2 million for an urban area
applicant, $900,000 for a suburban area applicant, and
$100,000 for a rural area applicant.
5)Limits applicants to public agencies, including, but not
limited to, transit operators within a city or county.
6)Requires a transit operator that is selected for the program
to provide a local match for any state funding it receives.
7)Requires Caltrans to ensure that benefits are provided by the
program to DACs.
8)Requires participating transit operators to submit a report to
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Caltrans by February 1, 2021, and requires Caltrans to submit
a report to the Legislature by August 1, 2021. The reports
shall include, but not be limited to, cost, use of monies,
estimated reduction in GHG emissions, and ridership.
9)Provides that in order to participate in the program, a
veteran must provide a veterans identification card issued by
a veterans service organization, or a driver's license or
identification card identifying the holder as a veteran.
10)Sunsets the program on January 1, 2022.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author states that there is a significant need
to not only provide better services for California's roughly 2
million veterans, but also to make sure all our veterans,
especially the most vulnerable, have access and transportation
to these services. Only 19% of veterans in California utilize
the benefits to which they are entitled. Approximately 26% of
veterans report having a disability; of these, 32% indicate
that their disability has interfered with obtaining or holding
a job. Additionally, 18- to 30-year-old veterans living in
poverty are 3.5 times more likely to become homeless as
compared to non-veteran adults living in poverty. With
veterans being more vulnerable to unemployment and
homelessness, it is paramount to provide them with affordable
means to succeed.
2)Sonoma County Veterans Subsidized Fare Program. Sonoma County
launched a pilot program on January 1, 2015 to provide
veterans free use of Sonoma County Transit. Specifically, a
veteran showing a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
identification card or a Sonoma County Veterans identification
card upon boarding a bus rides free, and Sonoma County Transit
is reimbursed by the county. The county budgeted $45,000
(general fund) for this program for the year and came in under
budget. The county board of supervisors unanimously voted in
November to make the program permanent as of January 1, 2016.
From January through June 2015, nearly 14,000 veteran trips
were provided through this program, with the majority of trips
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occurring on weekdays. During this period, veteran ridership
increased by 34%. Approximately 19% of trips occurred on the
route that serves the VA Outpatient Clinic. During this
period, 845 Sonoma County Veterans identification cards were
issued; county staff estimated that about half of these were
issued specifically in relation to this program.
3)Is a bill necessary? As discussed above, Sonoma County is
already operating a successful program to provide free transit
passes to veterans, without any state authorization or
funding. The author hopes to build on the success of this
program by providing GGRF monies to help incentivize transit
agencies across the state to implement similar programs.
4)Appropriate use of GGRF funds? Existing law (AB 1532, Pérez,
Chapter 807, Statutes of 2012) specifies that GGRF revenues
must be used to facilitate the achievement of GHG emissions
reductions. The author indicates that by getting more
veterans onto transit, this bill will help reduce GHG
emissions while enabling veterans to connect to key services.
However, emissions reductions would only occur if veterans are
switching from car travel to bus travel in order to get to
these services; the author contends that this bill is needed
because many veterans currently cannot obtain transport to
services. Because this bill requires Caltrans to develop
guidelines for transit providers to demonstrate GHG
reductions, and requires Caltrans to report to the
Legislature, the Legislature will have the opportunity to
evaluate the effectiveness of the program in reducing GHG
emissions.
5)Double-referred. This bill was amended to its current form
after it was referred to this committee by Rules Committee.
Should this bill pass this committee, it will be referred to
the Rules Committee for re-referral to the Environmental
Quality Committee.
Related Legislation:
SB 1259 (Runner) - exempts veterans from payments of tolls or
related fine on toll roads, high-occupancy toll lanes, toll
bridges, toll highways, vehicular crossings, or any other toll
facility. This bill will be heard in this committee on April
19, 2016.
SB 951 (McGuire) Page 5 of ?
AB 2222 (Holden) - provides a continuous appropriation of $50
million per year from the GGRF for the Transit Pass Program, to
be administered by Caltrans. This program would support transit
pass programs of public agencies that provide free or
reduced-fare transit passes to public school students and
community college, California State University, and University
of California students. AB 2222 requires at least 50% of
program funding to benefit disadvantaged communities. This bill
is pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
March 23, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
American G.I. Forum of California
AMVETS - Department of California (co-sponsor)
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
Military Officers Association of America, California Council of
Chapters
Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A Inc., Department
of California
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Sonoma County Transit
VFW - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
(co-sponsor)
OPPOSITION:
None received
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