BILL ANALYSIS
AB 619
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 619 (Blumenfield) - As Introduced: February 25, 2009
SUBJECT : Federal Transportation Funding: delays
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to notify the Legislature within 30 days of making a
determination that a project will be delayed beyond its
scheduled completion date because of cash flow or other funding
issues if the delay places receipt of federal funds at risk.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides Caltrans with broad responsibilities and control over
the state highway system.
2)Authorizes, until January 1, 2010, the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), to conduct a
demonstration program to enter a design-build contract for the
construction of a northbound high-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV)
on the Interstate 405 (I-405) freeway.
Existing federal law sets forth the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
(SAFETEA-LU), which, among other things, authorizes $130
million in federal transportation funds to the I-405
northbound HOV lane.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown, but presumably the avoidance of loss of
federal funds due to untimely project construction.
COMMENTS : Federal legislation reserved $130 million for a
project to widen a segment of
I-405, roughly between Routes 10 and 101 in Los Angeles County.
The project will add an HOV lane in the northbound direction of
the 405 freeway. Federal funding for the project came with a
caveat-get the project to construction by the time the federal
legislation runs out (September 2009) or lose federal funds.
Fearing that the original project schedule would be tight,
Caltrans and Metro responded by seeking, and receiving,
authority to use design-build on the project via legislation
passed in 2006 (SB 1026 (Kuehl), Chapter 1, Statutes of 2006).
AB 619
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The latest threat of project delay, and the potential loss of
federal funds, came earlier this year with action by the Pooled
Money Investment Board to freeze loans on bond funds. (The
I-405 project is funded by a mix of funding sources, including
the $130 million in earmarked funds and Proposition 1B funds.)
Ultimately, Metro and Caltrans were successful in cobbling
together funding solutions to avoid delaying the project. Had
they not, however, the $130 million in federal funds could very
well have been lost.
The purpose of this bill is to give the Legislature advance
notice of this type of looming funding issues that could result
in the loss of federal funds.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093