BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1092
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1092 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : High-Speed Rail Authority: reporting
SUMMARY : Requires the California High-Speed Rail Authority
(Authority), beginning March 1, 2012 and biannually thereafter,
to report on the development and implementation of intercity
high-speed rail. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Authority to provide a report to the Senate
Committee on Transportation and Housing, the Assembly
Committee on Transportation, the Senate Committee on Budget
and Fiscal Review, and the Assembly Committee on Budget on the
development and implementation of the high-speed rail project.
2)Specifically requires the following elements to be included in
the report:
a) A summary describing the overall progress of the report;
b) The baseline budget for all project phase costs, by
segment or contract, beginning with the 2009 business plan;
c) The current and projected budget, by segment or
contract, for all project phases;
d) Expenditures to date, by segment or contract, for all
project phases;
e) A comparison of the current and projected work schedule
against the baseline schedule contained in the 2009
business plan;
f) A summary of milestones achieved during the past year
and of milestones expected to be reached in the coming
year;
g) Any issues identified during the prior year and actions
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taken to address those issues; and,
h) A thorough discussion of various risks to the project
and steps taken to mitigate those risks.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the Authority to direct the development and
implementation of intercity high-speed rail service throughout
California, initially running from San Francisco to Los
Angeles via the Central Valley, and later to Sacramento and
San Diego.
2)Requires the Authority to prepare, publish, adopt, and submit
to the Legislature a business plan every two years, beginning
January 1, 2012, with prescribed elements.
3)Requires the Authority, no later than 90 days prior to making
an initial request for appropriation of bond proceeds for any
eligible capital costs on each corridor, or usable segment
thereof, to approve and submit to the Director of Finance, the
high-speed rail peer review group, and the Legislature, a
detailed funding plan for that corridor or a usable segment
thereof; requires the plan to include, identify, or certify
specific elements.
4)Requires the Authority, prior to committing any bond proceeds
for construction or right of way or equipment acquisition, on
each corridor, or usable segment thereof, to have approved and
concurrently submitted to the Department of Finance and the
Legislature, the following:
a) A detailed funding plan with specific elements; and,
b) Report or reports, prepared by one or more financial
services firms, financial consulting firms, or other
consultants, independent of any parties, other than the
Authority, involved in funding or constructing the
high-speed train system, affirming specific conditions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Existing law requires numerous reports of the
Authority, such as a business plan every two years, a detailed
funding plan prior to the Authority's initial request for bond
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proceeds for capital expenditures, and another detailed funding
plan prior to expending any bond proceeds for capital
construction or right of way acquisition. The primary purpose
of these reports has been to ensure the feasibility of the
project overall, before construction begins, including the
feasibility of each individual segment of the system. The
reports are also intended to ensure that the state's fiscal
liability for the construction, operation, and maintenance of
the system is identified and is limited.
AB 1092 requires a report of an entirely different nature. The
report required by this bill is one that has been recommended by
the Legislative Analyst's Office and that is currently being
used to track the progress on the project to replace the East
Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. That project is
currently the largest public works project ever undertaken in
California.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, "Multiyear mega
projects such as the high-speed rail project are susceptible to
significant unexpected challenges in their planning,
development, and construction as well as financing. For
example, a 2004 report by the �Bureau of State Audits] regarding
the replacement of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, another
mega project, found that a considerable financial crisis arose
in part due to the project management's failure to disclose huge
cost overruns as soon as it was aware of them. Because the
state has committed a significant amount of funding for the
high-speed rail project, it is important that the Legislature be
provided from the outset with regular updates on the project's
progress to avoid unexpected challenges in the project's
development."
According to the author, "AB 1092 will ensure the Legislature is
provided with the regular project status reporting it needs as
we begin development and construction of the next, largest
public works project California has ever undertaken."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Californians for High Speed Rail
Opposition
AB 1092
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093