BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1830|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1830
          Author:   Jones (D), et al
          Amended:  8/2/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM  :  6-2, 6/29/10
          AYES:  Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
          NOES:  Huff, Harman
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Ashburn

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-4, 8/12/10
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
          NOES:  Ashburn, Emmerson, Walters, Wyland

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  53-22, 6/3/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    High-Speed Rail Authority

           SOURCE  :     California Labor Federation


           DIGEST  :    This bill encourages the California High-Speed  
          Rail Authority to acquire equipment manufactured in  
          California.

           ANALYSIS  :    SB 1420 (Kopp), Chapter 796, Statutes of 1996,  
          creates the HSRA with a nine member governing board,  
          including five members appointed by the governor, two  
          members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and two  
          members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.  In 2008,  
          California voters approved the Safe, Reliable High-Speed  
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          Passenger Train Bond Act, Chapter 276, Statutes of 2008  
          (Proposition 1A) placed on the ballot by AB 3034  
          (Galgiani).  The bond measure makes available $9 billion  
          for the development of a high-speed rail system and $950  
          million for improvements to existing passenger rail systems  
          that will offer feeder services to the high-speed rail  
          service.  Proposition 1A identified Phase I of the  
          high-speed rail (HSR) project as Anaheim-Los  
          Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-San Jose-San Francisco Transbay  
          Terminal.  Although planning can proceed on the San Diego  
          and Sacramento lines, construction may occur only after  
          Phase I is under construction and funding is available for  
          these two additional segments.

          Proposition 1A defines the capital cost for which bond  
          revenues may be used to include acquisition of property,  
          acquisition and construction of tracks, structures, power  
          systems, and stations; acquisition of train equipment;  
          mitigation of direct and indirect environmental impacts;  
          relocation assistance; and other related capital  
          facilities, including financing and refinancing if  
          authorized by a subsequent statute.  It also authorizes the  
          HSRA to contract for services and equipment for developing  
          and operating the high-speed train service.

          In January of 2010, the Federal Railroad Administration  
          (FRA) awarded the HSRA a $2.25 billion American Recovery  
          and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant, the largest HSR grant  
          award in the country.  Included in the grant is $400  
          million for the San Francisco Transbay Terminal joint  
          powers agency, which submitted a separate ARRA application,  
          but FRA consolidated its grant with the state's.  The  
          actual amount of ARRA funds available to the HSR project is  
          $1.85 billion.  The ARRA grant is for assisting in funding  
          the preliminary engineering and environmental work on Phase  
          I and to assist with the construction of the following  
          Phase I segments: Los Angeles-Anaheim, Fresno-Bakersfield,  
          Fresno-Merced, and San Jose-San Francisco. As a condition  
          of the grant, the HSRA must obtain environmental clearances  
          for the corridors by September 30, 2011, and construction  
          must be completed by September 30, 2017. 

          In addition to the Proposition 1A authorization and the  
          ARRA funds, the HSRA also has $336 million of other public  

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          funds.  The total amount of funding currently available to  
          the HSRA is $11.2 billion.  The HSRA's current estimate for  
          constructing Phase I is $42.6 billion. 

          ARRA prohibits the use of grant funds for a project  
          involving the construction, alteration, maintenance, or  
          repair of a public building or public facility, unless all  
          of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the  
          project are produced in the United States.  In addition, it  
          requires that this prohibition be applied in a manner  
          consistent with U.S. obligations under international  
          agreements pertaining to procurement.  Lastly, ARRA  
          establishes conditions for waivers of requirements. 

          This bill:

          1.Authorizes the HSRA to make "every effort" to purchase  
            high-speed rail equipment manufactured in California,  
            provide it is consistent with federal law.

          2.Requires the HSRA provide a preference for rolling stock  
            and related equipment manufactured in California. The  
            preference shall be 5 percent of the lowest responsible  
            bidder meeting specifications. The preference shall be  
            provided to the extent consistent with federal law and  
            any other applicable provision of state law.

          3.Defines "manufactured in California" as the rolling stock  
            and related equipment are manufactured in whole or in  
            substantial part within California or that the majority  
            of the component parts of the rolling stock and related  
            equipment were manufactured in whole or in substantial  
            part in California.

          4.Defines "manufactured" as an activity of converting or  
            conditioning property by changing the form, composition,  
            quality, or character of the property for ultimate sale  
            at retail or use in the manufacturing of a product to be  
            ultimately sold at retail.

           Comments
           
          This bill seeks to maximize the number of California-based  
          jobs that the construction of the high-speed train system  

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          will create by encouraging the acquisition of equipment  
          that is manufactured in the state, provided that the  
          procurement activity is consistent with federal law.  Last  
          year this committee approved AB 733 (Galgiani) which had  
          the same objective, although it required the HSRA to give  
          an explicit preference when evaluating bids to  
          California-based manufacturing.  The governor vetoed AB  
          733. In his veto message, Governor Schwarzenegger said AB  
          733 "could result in unnecessary additional costs and  
          delays and may jeopardize the success of the project in  
          securing the billions of dollars that are needed to  
          construct this project." 

          This bill recognizes the supremacy of federal law in the  
          matters of international trade.

           High-speed rail project will create jobs  .  According to the  
          U.S. Department of Commerce econometric models, the number  
          of construction only jobs created by a heavy engineering  
          project, such as high-speed rail, is assumed to be between  
          18,000 and 32,000 direct and indirect jobs for every $1  
          billion spent.  The HSRA is assuming the number of jobs  
          create by the project could exceed 800,000, which is within  
          the accepted econometric parameters.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 

                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions                2010-11     2011-12     2012-13     
              Fund  
          Bid preference      unknown, potentially significant state  
          costs      Bond*
                              to the extent contracts are not awarded  
          to                   Federal**
                              the lowest bidder due to the preference

          Contract administration                           minor  
          one-time costs to establish bid                            
          Bond*
                              preference and minor ongoing costs to  

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          determine
                              whether a contractor qualifies for the  
          preference

          *   High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund
          ** American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/16/10)

          California Labor Federation (source) 
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal  
          Employees
          California Nurses Association
          Service Employees International Union


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :
          AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,  
            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, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu,  
            Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel  
            Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Skinner, Solorio,  
            Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A.  
            Perez
          NOES: Anderson, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher,  
            Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Knight, Logue,  
            Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth,  
            Tran, Villines
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Fuller, Saldana, Audra  
            Strickland, Vacancy


          JA:nl  8/16/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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