BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2121
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2121 (Harkey) - As Amended: April 28, 2010
SUBJECT : California High-Speed Rail Authority: oversight
reporting
SUMMARY : Requires the California High-Speed Rail Authority
(HSRA) to submit financial and progress reports to the
Legislature and the Governor. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires HSRA to submit to the Legislature and the Governor,
not later than October 1 each year, a high-speed train program
covering a period of six fiscal years, beginning July 1 of the
year following the year it is adopted. The program is to
constitute the department's (to be later amended to "HSRA")
statement of intent to request funding in the annual Budget
Act for the following six years. The program is to include a
listing of all capital improvement projects that are expected
to require appropriation in the annual Budget Act, including
state, federal, local, and private funds, during the following
six fiscal years. For each high-speed rail segment, the
program is to specify the expenditure amount and the
expenditure year for each of the following project components:
a) Completion of all permits and environmental studies.
b) Preparation of plans, specifications, and estimates.
c) The acquisition of rights-of-way, including, but not
limited to, support activities.
d) Construction and construction management and
engineering, including surveys and inspection.
2)Requires the six year program to be submitted to the
Legislative Counsel, the Secretary of the Senate, and the
Chief Clerk of the Assembly, pursuant to Government Code
Section 9795.
3)Sunsets the requirement for the report on the six year program
on October 1, 2015.
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4)Requires HSRA to prepare and submit to the Legislature and the
Governor an annual report, no later than December 1 of each
year. The report is to include a description of the progress
made on the high-speed train program adopted by HSRA. The
report is also required to include a financial plan, including
any necessary taxes, fees, bonds, or other indebtedness, to
pay for the construction of the high-speed train network.
5)Requires the annual report to be submitted to the Legislative
Counsel, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Chief Clerk of
the Assembly, pursuant to Government Code Section 9795.
6)Sunsets the requirement for the annual report on the six year
program on December 1, 2015.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes and provides HSRA with the authority and
responsibility to develop and implement a high-speed train
system within California.
2)Pursuant to the Bond Act as approved by the statewide voters
at the November 2008 general election, provides $9.95 billion
in G.O. bond authority to fund the planning and construction
of a high-speed passenger train system and complementary
improvements to other specified rail systems in the state.
3)Authorizes the Legislature to establish conditions and
criteria on funds appropriated for planning and capital costs;
requires HSRA, prior to expending bond funding for the
construction and acquisition of equipment and property, to
submit concurrently to Department of Finance and the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee a detailed funding plan for each
corridor or usable segment.
4)Authorizes, through enactment of the federal American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the recently enacted federal
economic stimulus package referred to as "ARRA"), $2.25
billion for high-speed rail passenger service development in
California.
5)Requires a bill that mandates a state agency to submit a
report on any subject to either house of the Legislature to
include a provision that repeals the reporting requirement, or
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makes the requirement inoperative, no later than a date four
years following the date upon which the bill either becomes
operative or four years after the due date of any report
required every four or more years.
6)Specifies the distribution of reports to the Legislature by a
state or local agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The proposed California high-speed rail passenger
train network consists of an 800+ mile high-speed system capable
of a speed up to 220 miles per hour (mph), initially serving the
major metropolitan market of San Francisco through the Central
Valley into Los Angeles and Orange County (Phase 1). The system
is required by statute to transport people from San Francisco to
Los Angeles in two hours and forty minutes. Eventually the
service would be extended to Sacramento, the Inland Empire, and
San Diego. Further, improved rail service over the Altamont
corridor would be implemented.
In August 2008, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB
3034 (Galgiani) Chapter 267, that laid the framework for
improving the oversight of the HSRA's high-speed rail project.
That bill also clarified and modified bond provisions that
eventually were approved by the California voters in November
2008 with the passage of the Bond Act. With that endorsement,
$9.95 billion state general obligation bond funds were authorized
for eventual sale, providing the initial capital seed funds for
the completion of the entire statewide system.
Additionally, AB 3034 established significant oversight
processes and control mechanisms for the independent review and
approval of financing and engineering plans for the construction
of California's high-speed train system. Reporting and other
oversight mechanisms were also required by subsequent Budget Act
requirements.
Together with the passage of the Bond Act and California's
approval and pending receipt of $2.25 billion in federal ARRA
high-speed rail funds, HSRA will soon be approving multi-billion
dollar engineering and construction contracts, in accordance with
a schedule approved by the federal ARRA funding agency (Federal
Railroad Administration [FRA]). Accordingly, environmental
reviews of the initial Phase 1 segments are slated to be
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completed by September 30, 2011, with construction beginning by
September 30, 2012.
The author's office contends that "While there may be some
benefits to high speed rail, it should not come at the expense
of our schools, local transportation, public safety, and health
and human services. It should be noted that $9-10 billion
represents only startup costs for this project. The HSRA
estimates the costs for this project in excess of $40-60
billion. The Legislature should demand complete projections and
tracking mechanisms prior to funding any project with public
funds."
Consistent with the author's above stated intentions, this bill
has been significantly amended to delete its original contents
and to replace it with reporting and tracking mechanisms that
will increase oversight of HSRA activities. Accordingly, the
bill requires HSRA to provide to the Legislature and Governor a
six-year funding program similar to the report on state
transportation improvement projects as prepared by the
California Department of Transportation. Further, on an annual
basis, the bill requires a separate report on the progress made
on the construction of the system as well as the plans to
finance it.
Related bill: AB 1375 (Galgiani) of 2009, would create a
High-Speed Rail Department and also would establish similar
tracking and oversight reports as provided by this bill. AB 1375
passed out of this committee on a 9-4 vote and is awaiting
hearing in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
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