BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2147|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2147
Author: V. Manuel Perez (D), et al
Amended: 7/15/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-1, 6/29/10
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe, Pavley,
Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-16, 5/6/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Safe Routes to School Program
SOURCE : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
PolicyLink
DIGEST : This bill adds benefit to low-income schools and
use of a public participation process to the list of
factors that the Department of Transportation must consider
when evaluating grant proposals for the state Safe Routes
to School (SRTS) program, and allows schools, in
cooperation with a transportation agency, to compete for
SRTS grants.
ANALYSIS : In 1999, AB 1475 (Soto), Chapter 663,
established the state SRTS program, the first in the
CONTINUED
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nation, for the construction of bicycle and pedestrian
safety and traffic calming projects that improve safety and
promote walking and bicycling to school.
In 2005, the federal transportation bill, the Safe,
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act:
A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), established a federal
Safe Routes to School program.
The state and federal programs are both administered by the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) but, because the
two programs are subject to different requirements under
state and federal laws, they are administered as separate
programs. This bill makes changes only to the state
program.
In administering the state program, Caltrans determines how
much will be made available to each of Caltrans' 12
districts in proportion to the number of students enrolled
in kingergarten through the 12th grade with no district
receiving less than $500,000 per funding cycle. State law
permits "local governmental agencies" to submit
applications, though Caltrans restricts applicants to
cities and counties. Cities and counties must work
collaboratively with other local partners, including school
officials and community stakeholders, to develop project
proposals. The Caltrans district office ranks each
proposal it receives and forwards the top ranked proposals
to Caltrans headquarters for final approval.
Proposals are rated on the following factors:
Demonstrated needs of the applicant.
Potential of the proposal to reduce child injuries and
fatalities.
Potential of the proposal to increase walking and
bicycling among students.
Identification of safety hazards.
Identification of current and potential walking and
bicycling routes to school.
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Consultation and support for projects by school-based
associations, local traffic engineers, local elected
officials, law enforcement agencies, school officials,
and other relevant community stakeholders.
This bill:
1. Adds to the list of factors that Caltrans must use to
rank project proposals "use of a public participation
process" and "benefit to a disadvantaged community."
2. Defines "low-income school" as a school where at least
75 percent of the students receive free or reduced price
meals under the Naitonal School Lunch Program.
3. Articulates the conditions that the public participation
process must meet, which include:
Involving the public, schools, parents, teachers,
local agencies, the business community, key
profesionals, and others.
Identifying community priorities and gathers
community input to guide the development of projects.
Securing support for the project by relevant
community stakeholders.
4. Allows schools, in cooperation with a transportation
agency, to compete for SRTS grants.
Background
SRTS program statistics . To date, the SRTS program has
completed eight cycles, beginning in 2000-01, with
approximately $24.25 million made available each year.
Through the current fiscal year, Caltrans has received
3,820 applications and awarded 815 projects statewide at a
total cost of over $244 million. The projects awarded
throughout the state, in all 12 Caltrans districts and in
both urban and rural areas, have funded five basic types of
infrastructure improvements: sidewalk installation and
upgrading, traffic calming and speed reduction measures,
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traffic signal installation, pedestrian and bicycle
crossing improvements, and construction of bicycle paths
and other bicycle facilities. Requests for funding have
exceeded available resources in each year the program has
been administered, funding an average of 21.3 percent of
projects that applied for funding over the past eight
cycles.
Children living in low-income neighborhoods experience
higher rates of pedestrian injury and obesity than children
who live in higher-income areas. Given the documented
success of the SRTS program in increasing walking and
bicycling to school, this bill may be an important step
towards ensuring that low-income schools and communities
are able to access and benefit from SRTS grant funding. It
is not clear, however, the extent to which low-income
communities are unable to access SRTS funds or what
specific barriers they face in developing and implementing
successful projects under California's SRTS program.
To address these issues, in February of this year, Governor
Schwarzenegger directed Caltrans to take specific actions
to increase support for low-income schools and communities
that participate in the SRTS program. These actions
included:
Determining the socioeconomic status (SES) of current and
past SRTS program participants and determining the
appropriate level of participation among these school and
communities.
Completing a review of funding practices in other
programs that have been effective in securing high
participation levels from low-SES schools and
communities.
This analysis is due July 1 of this year. The Governor
also directed Caltrans to revise its funding priorities and
criteria, based on its findings, in order to increase
participation in SRTS among low-SES, disadvantaged schools
and communities, which Caltrans has committed to do.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/4/10)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (co-source)
PolicyLink (co-source)
Alameda County Congestion Management Agency
Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority
American Cancer Society
American Heart Association
Binacional Center for the Development of the Oaxacan
Indigenous Communities Center
California Food Policy Advocates
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California State PTA
Central Valley Partnership for Citizenship
Ceres Partnership for Healthy Children
Community Prevention of Alcohol & Drug Related Problems
East Yard Communities
Fresno Metro Ministry
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Organizacion en California de Lideres Campesinas, Inc.
Poder Popular of the Coachella Valley
Prevention Institute
San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement Project
Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity
Environments
The City Project
TransForm
Urban Habitat
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the intent of the bill is to ensure equitable access to
SRTS funds. The bill achieves this by making changes to
the criteria used to evaluate project proposals.
Specifically, the bill requires Caltrans to give priority
to proposals that benefit low-income schools. The bill
also gives community residents a stronger role in the
development of SRTS project proposals by giving extra
points to applicants who work with parents and community
residents to develop and prioritize projects.
While SRTS has been a popular and effective program, its
guidelines do not currently target resources to
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disadvantaged communities. As a result, schools that serve
low-income students are often unable to enjoy the benefits
of this program.
The author's office states that disadvantaged communities,
particularly those in unincorporated and rural areas,
frequently lack basic infrastructure. Sidewalks, storm
drains, stoplights, and other similar infrastructure may be
missing or in disrepair. Walking and biking in these
communities can be unsafe and thousands of child
pedestrians are hit in California each year as a result.
Today, less than 15 percent of children walk or bicycle to
school and 20 percent are considered overweight or obese.
When children are unable to walk or bicycle to school, the
chances of becoming obese and developing associated health
problems increase. The author's office asserts that
expanding opportunities for physical activity is a critical
component of the solution and ensuring that children can
safely walk and bicycle to school is one way to accomplish
this.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Anderson, Tom Berryhill, DeVore, Emmerson, Gaines,
Garrick, Hagman, Harkey, Knight, Logue, Miller, Niello,
Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Block, Gilmore, Mendoza, Norby,
Vacancy
JJA:mw 8/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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