BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 845
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                       AB 845 (Ma) - As Amended:  May 10, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:14-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes in statute provisions consistent with 
          existing guidelines governing the allocation of $760 million in 
          general obligation bond funds authorized in the Safe, Reliable 
          High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century for the 
          Commuter and Urban Rail Program. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the distribution of the funds to be based on the 2007 
            data in the National Transit Database of the Federal Transit 
            Administration.

          2)Directs the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to 
            accept from each eligible recipient of the funds a priority 
            list of projects, each of which must meet criteria set forth 
            in the Bond Act.

          3)Directs the CTC to require that matching funds are to be 
            provided from non-state funds, as defined.

          4)Provides that the required match for commuter and urban rail 
            projects begins with expenditures made subsequent to the 
            adoption of the program by the CTC.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact, as the bill codifies existing 
          guidelines already adopted by the CTC for allocation of bond 
          funds.

           COMMENTS  









                                                                  AB 845
                                                                  Page  2

           Background and Purpose  . In November 2008, California voters 
          approved Proposition 1A, a $9.95 billion bond measure to build 
          the country's first high-speed rail train system. Proposition 1A 
          included $950 million for local capital modernization and 
          improvement projects on existing rail facilities in California 
          to provide connectivity to high-speed rail. In February 2010, 
          the CTC adopted guidelines to implement both the Intercity Rail 
          Program ($190 million) and the Commuter and Urban Rail Program 
          (for the remaining $760 million). In its guidelines for the 
          Commuter and Urban Rail Program, the CTC provided that it will 
          give priority to those projects that provide direct connectivity 
          to the high-speed train system. This bill codifies elements of 
          the adopted CTC guidelines for distributing funds under the 
          Commuter and Urban Rail Program.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081