BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: AB
324
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
AB 324 Author: Buchanan
As Amended: June 22, 2011
Hearing Date: June 28, 2011
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
State Buildings
DESCRIPTION
AB 324 adds a new provision to the "State Building
Construction Act" that requires the Department of General
Services (DGS) to consider the proximity of the workforce,
the location of the community being served and the
availability of transit service when deciding where to
build or lease state office buildings. Specifically, this
measure:
1. Requires DGS, when selecting locations for the lease,
lease with the option to purchase, construction, or
purchase of a state building in excess of 10,000 square
feet, to consider all of the following factors:
a. The location of the community or population served
by the building.
b. The availability and proximity of transit service,
including regularly operated bus lines that are
operational at the time of occupancy.
c. The residential location of the state workforce to
be housed, with priority allowed to areas demonstrating
the highest reduction of miles traveled by the
workforce.
EXISTING LAW
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Page 2
Existing law, the State Building Construction Act of 1955,
generally sets forth procedures for the acquisition and
construction of state buildings. Existing law requires DGS
to prepare plans and specifications for any public building
constructed pursuant to the Act.
Existing law provides that the "Capitol Area Plan" is the
official state master plan for development in the central
City of Sacramento for the location of state buildings and
other improvements. The Plan serves as a guide for future
state policy in the locating of state buildings and other
facilities in the metropolitan area. The Capitol Area Plan
is a mixed-use plan for the management, development and
disposition of state-owned property located directly south
and east of the State Capitol and Capitol Park in the City
of Sacramento.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the State Building Construction Act of 1955,
generally sets forth procedures for the acquisition and
construction of state buildings. Existing law requires DGS
to prepare plans and specifications for any public building
constructed pursuant to the Act.
Existing law provides that the "Capitol Area Plan" is the
official state master plan for development in the central
City of Sacramento for the location of state buildings and
other improvements. The Plan serves as a guide for future
state policy in the locating of state buildings and other
facilities in the metropolitan area. The Capitol Area Plan
is a mixed-use plan for the management, development and
disposition of state-owned property located directly south
and east of the State Capitol and Capitol Park in the City
of Sacramento.
Currently, DGS has numerous requirements to comply with
when locating state operations. For example, Government
Code Section 15808.1 in general requires DGS to consider
locating state buildings in public transit corridors.
Executive Order D-46-01 directs DGS to use smart growth and
"green" principles when siting, constructing and leasing
state buildings. These include, amongst others, preferred
site or leasing in a central city or area of similar
character immediately adjacent thereto; sensitivity to
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building design and scale and environmental concerns;
proximity to public transit and other needed
infrastructure.
Purpose of AB 324: According to the author's office, the
single largest source of greenhouse gases in California is
emissions from passenger vehicles. For instance, one out of
every ten Elk Grove residents is a State government
employee that travels 30.4 minutes to work or more,
depending on traffic congestion. This travel creates
90,836,875 annual commute vehicle miles traveled which
contributes to poor air quality in the region. The
author's office claims that locating office buildings close
to where state employees live will reduce miles driven by
state workers and traffic congestion on highways and
surface streets. It can provide more time for employees to
spend in their own neighborhood, thereby increasing the
quality of life for those employees. Additionally, the
author's office emphasizes that this measure will go a long
way in helping the State attain its greenhouse reduction
goals established in the Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (AB 32).
Proponents contend that DGS currently does not consider the
residential locations of the majority of their workforce
when planning for the construction or acquisition of new
state buildings. As a result, communities with the highest
concentration of state workers often have to travel lengthy
distances to get to work. California's shortage of public
transportation systems amplifies this problem particularly
in rural areas of the state.
Staff Comments: Almost 20 years ago, DGS undertook an
ambitious program to save money and make government more
accessible to citizens by rearranging state offices in
major urban centers. The plan also envisioned small-scale
consolidation in numerous other California communities
where the state leased dispersed office space. Based on a
series of regional plans and facility studies, DGS' efforts
led to office consolidation projects in major metropolitan
areas (San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Riverside/San
Bernardino, Long Beach, San Diego and Sacramento.)
Generally, justification for these new projects focused on
the economic benefits of ownership compared to the avoided
cost of leasing.
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Consolidation of state office space in the Capitol Area has
also been the state's long-standing goal, and was the
impetus behind the first comprehensive master plan for the
Capitol Area prepared in 1960. In addition, development of
the Capitol Area as a vibrant mixed-use center, with a
variety of office, commercial and residential uses, is a
major goal of the Capitol Area Plan that was adopted in
1977, and has been a long-standing policy of the state, and
the City of Sacramento. The Plan serves as a flexible
framework for the ongoing planning of specific development
activities in the Capitol Area.
The Capitol Area Plan encompasses a statutory defined
geographic area of approximately 290 acres (between
5th/17th Streets and L/R Streets) to the south, east and
west of the State Capitol Building and Capitol Park - it
includes state office space, housing units and commercial
establishments on state-owned land. DGS is responsible for
the implementation of the state office and parking elements
of the Plan and the Capitol Area Development Authority
(CADA), a state-city joint powers authority, is responsible
for implementation of the residential and commercial
elements.
In 1995, the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit education
and research institute based in Washington D.C., examined
California's office program, involving land use, agency
location policy, facilities planning, state property
development and redevelopment. The study recommended,
among other items, that: (1) the Capitol building and its
surrounding park be viewed as unique treasures that deserve
protection and where possible enhancement; (2) the state
give immediate priority to the development of the land it
already owns to the east and south of the Capitol to ensure
that the Capitol is not left on the fringe as development
within the city drifts to the north; (3) state-owned land
in the area north of Q Street in the Capitol Area should be
the state's first priority for locating downtown office
space, with the Central Business District being the second
priority; and, (4) programs requiring very large floor
plates or having no programmatic need to be near the
Capitol would be appropriately located outside the downtown
area.
The Urban Land Institute study also recommended that
whether the location of an agency is to be in downtown
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Sacramento or in an outlying area, it must be convenient to
public transportation and highway corridors to allow easy
access to the regional transportation network for commuting
to work and between work locations and to limit urban
sprawl and provide efficient use of public infrastructure
expenditures. The study noted that a concentrated focus on
development and transportation will mitigate the dangers of
urban sprawl and reduce the amount of air pollution that
sprawl can generate.
Suggested Amendments: For clarity purposes the Committee
or author may wish to consider the following amendments:
Amendment #1
On page 2, line 7, after the word "building," insert: based
upon available information provided through the state
payroll database
Amendment #2
On page 2, line 10, after the word "of," strike out "high
quality and frequent" and insert: reliable
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 1006 (Buchanan) 2009-10 Session. Similar to AB 324
(Buchanan) of 2011. Passed out of this committee on 7/9/09
on a vote of 10-0. (Vetoed on the basis that DGS already
considers a number of factors when considering where to
locate a building. Further, the Governor stated, "I
believe the highest priority for locating state buildings
is, and should remain, the ability to provide services to
the citizens of California.)
SB 375 (Steinberg) Chapter 375, Statutes of 2008. Required
metropolitan planning organizations to include
sustainable community strategies, as defined, in their
regional transportation plans for the purpose of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, aligning planning for
transportation and housing, and creating specified
incentives for the implementation of the strategies.
AB 32 (Nunez) Chapter 488 of 2006. Established the Global
Warming Act of 2006, which is a comprehensive greenhouse
gas emissions reduction program that requires efforts from
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both the public and private sectors to achieve the goal of
reducing California's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990
levels by 2020.
SUPPORT: As of June 24, 2011:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME)
City of Elk Grove
Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce
Elk Grove Economic Development Corporation
Professional Engineers in California Government
SEIU 1000
State Building and Construction Trades Council
TransForm
OPPOSE: None on file as of June 24, 2011.
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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