BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 145
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 145 (Galgiani) - As Amended: March 16, 2011
SUBJECT : Department of High-Speed Trains
SUMMARY : Repeals and recasts provisions establishing the
High-Speed Rail Authority and establishes the Department of
High-Speed Trains (DHST). Specifically, this bill :
1)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to provide an
efficient governmental structure for the development of
high-speed train operations in the state.
2)Repeals and recasts provisions establishing the High-Speed
Rail Authority (Authority) and prescribing its membership and
duties.
3)Requires the Authority to establish policies, in consultation
with DHST, to direct the development and implementation of
intercity high-speed train service that is fully integrated
with the state's existing intercity rail and bus network;
requires DHST to implement the policies.
4)Repeals the requirement that the Authority prepare, adopt, and
submit a business plan to the Legislature every two years.
5)Repeals and recasts the requirement that the Authority
establish an independent peer review group for the purpose of
reviewing the planning, engineering, financing, and other
elements of the Authority's plans.
6)Transfers certain existing powers and responsibilities of the
Authority to DHST, and specifies additional powers and duties
of the Authority and DHST relative to implementation of the
high-speed rail project.
7)Specifies the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the
Authority as follows:
a) Select the routes of the high-speed train system;
b) Serve as the governing body of DHST, for purposes of the
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adoption of resolutions of necessity (related to
condemnations);
c) Advise the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
(BT&H) and DHST concerning high-speed rail matters.
d) Adopt criteria for the award of franchises; and,
e) Set fares or establish guidelines for the setting of
fares.
8)Directs the Authority to adopt and submit to the Legislature
and the Governor by October 1 of each year, a six-year
high-speed program. The program is to cover six fiscal years
and is to be a statement of intent by DHST to request funding
in the annual Budget Act for the ensuing six years.
9)Requires the high-speed train program to include a listing of
all capital improvement projects for which Budget Act
appropriation is anticipated from all funding sources for the
following six years.
10)Requires that the program specify the expenditure amount and
expenditure year for each project phase.
11)Creates DHST within BT&H.
12)Provides that the DHST director would be appointed by the
Governor and hold office at the pleasure of the Authority.
13)Requires that the director perform all duties, exercise all
powers and jurisdiction, assume and discharge all
responsibilities, and carry out and effect all purposes vested
by law in the department.
14)Authorizes up to ten executive employees of DHST who would be
exempt from civil service, appointed by the Governor, and
serve at the pleasure of the director. Authorizes the
Authority to set the salary of the executive employees and
director in amounts that are reasonably necessary to attract
and hold a person of superior qualifications.
15)Grants explicit authority for the Governor, the secretary of
BT&H, and DHST to enter into any agreement necessary to
receive and expend federal funds in connection with mass
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transportation programs and projects for which federal funds
are available.
16)Provides authority to DHST for property acquisition and
disposition and authorization to employ its own legal staff or
contract out.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Authority to be responsible for planning,
constructing, and operating a high-speed train system serving
California's major metropolitan areas. The Authority has a
nine-member policy board (five appointed by the Governor, two
appointed by the Senate and two appointed by the Assembly).
Its executive director is selected by, and reports directly
to, the Authority's policy board.
2)Establishes the California Transportation Commission (CTC) for
the development and implementation of a single, unified
California transportation policy. CTC is responsible for the
programming and allocating of funds for the construction of
highway, passenger rail and transit improvements throughout
California. The CTC also advises and assists the BT&H and the
Legislature in formulating and evaluating state policies and
plans for California's transportation programs.
3)Establishes the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) by consolidating the Department of Public Works and
the State Aeronautics Board and establishing six divisions:
transportation planning, highways, mass transportation,
aeronautics, administrative services, and legal.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The Authority was created by SB 1420 (Kopp) Chapter
796, Statutes of 1996, which vested it with the responsibility
to direct the development and implementation of intercity
high-speed rail service. SB 1420 directed the Authority to
prepare a plan for the construction and operation of a
high-speed train network for the state and to submit that plan
to the Legislature and the Governor or to the voters of the
state for approval. That bill prescribed various powers of the
Authority relative to planning and contracting for the
construction, financing, and operation of a high-speed rail
system.
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In 1996, the Authority's chief responsibility was to plan for a
high-speed train network. Today, the Authority's chief
responsibility is to implement the plan. The current cost
estimate for the initial phase of the 800-mile network is $43
billion. To complete the project, the Authority will initially
oversee consultant contracts amounting to hundreds of millions
of dollars, with billions of dollars in right of way acquisition
and construction contracts to follow.
The governance structure set forth in AB 145 mirrors, to a large
extent, the existing organizational relationship between the CTC
and Caltrans. The CTC consists of eleven voting members and two
non-voting ex-officio members. Of the eleven voting members,
nine are appointed by the Governor, one is appointed by the
Senate Rules Committee, and one is appointed by the Speaker of
the Assembly. The two ex-officio non-voting members are
appointed from the State Senate and Assembly, usually the
respective chairs of the transportation policy committee in each
house.
The CTC is responsible for programming and allocating funds for
the construction of highway, passenger rail and transit
improvements throughout California. The CTC also advises and
assists the secretary of BT&H and the Legislature in formulating
and evaluating state policies and plans for California's
transportation programs, reviews and comments on findings in
environmental documents under state and federal environmental
laws, adopts and rescinds specific highway route alignments, and
approves resolutions of necessity (related to condemnations).
Caltrans, on the other hand, is vested with full possession and
control of all state highways and all property rights in
property acquired for state highway purposes. It is authorized
and directed to lay out and construct all state highways between
the termini designated by law and on the locations as determined
by the CTC and to do any act necessary, convenient or proper for
the construction, improvement, maintenance or use of all
highways which are under its jurisdiction, possession or
control.
AB 145 creates a new DHST as part of state government, distinct
from the Authority, and revises the role of the Authority.
Under this bill, DHST will carry out the day-to-day activities
of constructing and implementing the high-speed rail project
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while the Authority will continue as the policy-making body.
According to the author, AB 145 will help protect the state's
interests and establish further oversight in the activities and
use of the funds to be invested in high-speed rail.
The organizational structure set forth in AB 145 has the
potential to reap benefits, including:
1)Assigning the Authority with the responsibility to set policy
and DHST with the responsibility to implement that policy
insulates the high-speed rail project from undue political
pressure that could otherwise thwart progress of the project
and instills a more appropriate balance of power to govern the
project.
2)Despite its unique characteristics and its rather autonomous
existence in state government, the Authority is a state agency
and responsibility for its success or failure rests entirely
with the Governor. Placing DHST within the BT&H will ensure
the needs of the Authority and of the project are considered
in the Governor's cabinet-level discussions.
Committee concerns: There are over two dozen high-speed bills
currently pending before the Legislature so it is not surprising
that there is a lot overlap, duplication, or contradiction in
some of the individual provisions. Consequently, there will
inevitably be the need to reconcile the bills as they proceed
through the process. Examples of some of the provisions in this
bill that overlap with provisions in other bills include those
related to exempt positions, Authority member appointments, and
reporting requirements.
Related legislation:
AB 1164 (Gordon) requires gubernatorial Authority appointees to
be confirmed by the Senate. The bill will be heard in Assembly
Transportation Committee on April 25, 2011.
SB 517 (Lowenthal) provides for the reorganization of the
Authority and a reconstitution of the Authority board. That
bill will be heard in Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee on April 26, 2011.
Previous legislation :
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AB 1375 (Galgiani) 2010, would have created the Department of
High Speed Trains. That bill was eventually amended to provide
exempt positions and ultimately died in Senate Transportation
and Housing Committee.
AB 733 (Galgiani) 2009, among other matters, would have allowed
the Authority to hire its own legal counsel. That bill died in
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 409 (Ducheny), 2009, would have created a Department of
Railroads within BT&H and the Authority would have been a
division within the Department of Railroads. That bill died in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee on suspense.
SB 53 (Ducheny) Chapter 53, Statutes of 2008, requires the
California Research Bureau, in consultation with specified
others, to study the consolidation of various rail functions
currently performed by several state entities, including the
high-speed rail functions; requires the development of a report
with transmittal to the Legislature by May 1, 2009.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Californians for High-Speed Rail
Opposition
Planning and Conservation League
Community Coalition on High Speed Rail
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093