BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 277
Author: Ammiano (D)
Amended: 5/11/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SEN. TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING COMM. : 6-4, 6/16/09
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Oropeza, Simitian,
Wolk
NOES: Ashburn, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff,
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-29, 5/21/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local sales and use transaction tax: Bay Area
SOURCE : San Francisco County Transportation Authority
DIGEST : This bill specifies how the governing board of a
transportation agency using the Bay Area County Traffic and
Transportation Funding Act will be designated.
ANALYSIS : The Bay Area County Traffic and Transportation
Funding Act establishes procedures for the formation of a
county transportation authority when pursuing the
imposition of a voter approved transportation sales tax.
This procedure applies to nine counties that comprise the
San Francisco Bay Area.
Existing law:
CONTINUED
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1.Establishes a procedure for counties in the Bay Area to
place a transportation sales tax ordinance before the
voters. Included in the materials made available to the
voters is an expenditure plan describing how the sales
tax revenues will be used.
2.Specifies that a county in the Bay Area may establish a
county transportation authority by stating the members of
the authority in the expenditure plan or in the sales tax
ordinance that is placed before the voters for approval.
The members of the authority are then appointed by each
city council and the board of supervisors within 45 days
after the authority is created.
This bill deletes the option of specifying the members of a
transportation authority in the sales tax ordinance and
limits the identification of the authority members to the
expenditure plan.
Background
There are three statutory schemes for placing a local
transportation sales tax on the ballot. A county may seek
specific legislation establishing the sales tax agency and
authoring it to place a sales tax ordinance on the ballot.
This approach was used at the outset of the sales program
when Santa Clara County obtained authorization to create a
sales agency and seek voter approval for a sales tax. The
second scheme is general legislative authorization to
organize a local agency to seek a sales tax. This approach
is used by most counties. Lastly, there is a general
authorization which applies exclusively to the nine county
Bay Area, The Bay Area County Traffic and Transportation
Funding Act. Only one county, the City and County of San
Francisco, has taken advantage of this act. The other
counties have had specific legislation enacted or have
taken advantage of the general enabling statute.
SB 987 (Migden), Chapter 83, Statutes of 2005, made several
changes to the County Traffic and Transportation Funding
Act. Among the changes was a provision that the governing
board of the sales tax authority to be identified either in
the expenditure plan or in the sales tax ordinance that is
placed before the voters. Prior to SB 987, authority
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membership was identified only in the expenditure plan.
In 2008, a slate of proposed changes to city sales tax
ordinances was on the November ballot in San Francisco.
One of these measures, Proposition P, would have radically
changed the composition of the San Francisco County
Transportation Authority (SFCTA) governing board by taking
advantage of the provision in SB 987 allowing the sales tax
ordinance to specify the composition of the governing
board. If approved, Proposition P would have changed the
current composition of the Board from the 11 county
supervisors to just five members: San Francisco Mayor,
President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San
Francisco Treasurer, one elected official appointed by the
San Francisco Mayor, and one elected official appointed by
the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Additionally, the proposition would have urged the SFCTA to
change its staffing model, which previously relied on a
small staff supplemented with contract consultants, to
greater reliance on existing city/county agency staff.
Accordingly, several board members formed an opposition
campaign, and prevailed, defeating Proposition P 67 percent
opposed to 32 percent in support.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/17/09)
San Francisco County Transportation Authority (source)
Contra Costa Transportation Authority
Self-Help Coalition
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
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NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Saldana
JJA:cm 6/18/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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