BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2495
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2495 (Nunez)
As Amended May 26, 2006
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES APPROPRIATIONS
(vote not relevant) (vote not
available)
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SUMMARY : Adds two legislative appointments to the California
Transportation Commission (CTC). Specifically, this bill :
1)Increases the membership of CTC to from 11 to 13.
2)Adds one member to be appointed by the Senate Rules Committee
and one to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
3)Specifies that neither of these appointments is subject to
Senate confirmation and that they both shall hold office for
terms of four years, and until their successors are appointed.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes an 11-member CTC, nine of whom are empowered to
vote.
2)Requires the nine voting members to be appointed by the
Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
3)Requires one member of the Senate appointed by the Senate
Rules Committee and one member of the Assembly appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly to be non-voting ex officio
members of the CTC and to participate in its activities to the
extent that such participation is not incompatible with their
positions as members of the Legislature.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The CTC is responsible for programming and allocating
funds used in the construction of highway, intercity passenger
rail and transit improvements throughout California. It also
AB 2495
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advises the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency and the Legislature in formulating and evaluating state
policies and plans for California's transportation programs.
Since its establishment in 1978, CTC has been composed of nine
voting members appointed by the Governor and two ex-officio,
non-voting members, who are, traditionally, the chairs of the
Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees. The terms of the
voting members are four years in length and are staggered.
This bill allows the Senate Rules Committee and the Assembly
Speaker to each appoint a voting member to the CTC.
The CTC carries out several important responsibilities related
to establishing policies regarding the expenditure of state
transportation revenues, including the adoption of the State
Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and the State Highway
Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP). When projects in the
STIP, SHOPP, and the statutorily-established Traffic Congestion
Relief Program (TCRP) are ready to go to bid, CTC allocates
revenues to them. The CTC's other responsibilities include the
adoption of the fund estimate used by the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) and the regional transportation
planning agencies to prepare the regional transportation
improvement programs and the STIP, and the adoption of
guidelines used by the regions to prepare the regional
transportation plans.
This bill is intended to allow the legislative branch to
participate in critical decisions affecting state transportation
policy and the state transportation system. Even with the
inclusion of two legislatively-appointed members, CTC would
still retain a strong gubernatorial majority.
Related legislation: SB 1703 (Lowenthal) would also create two
legislative appointments to the CTC. Unlike this bill, however,
SB 1703 would do so at the expense of two current gubernatorial
appointments. SB 1266 (Perata), Chapter 25, Statutes of 2006,
authorized a $19.975 billion transportation bond to be placed on
the November, 2006 ballot. Should that bond measure be adopted
by the voters, it would include $4.5 billion for "corridor
mobility" projects on the state highway system and the local
road system. Fund allocations for such projects would be made
by the CTC pursuant guidelines that it develops and adopts.
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Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0014982