BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1092
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 4, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

               AB 1092 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced:  February 18, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:12-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), 
          commencing March 1, 2012 and biannually thereafter, to report 
          specified information to the Legislature regarding 
          implementation of the high-speed train program. The report is to 
          include the following elements:

          1)A summary describing the overall progress of the report.  

          2)The baseline budget for all project phase costs, by segment or 
            contract, beginning with the 2009 business plan.  

          3)The current and projected budget, by segment or contract, for 
            all project phases.  

          4)Expenditures to date, by segment or contract, for all project 
            phases.  

          5)A comparison of the current and projected work schedule 
            against the baseline schedule contained in the 2009 business 
            plan.  

          6)A summary of milestones achieved during the past year and of 
            milestones expected to be reached in the coming year.  

          7)Any issues identified during the prior year and actions taken 
            to address those issues.

          8)A thorough discussion of various risks to the project and 
            steps taken to mitigate those risks.  









                                                                  AB 1092
                                                                  Page  2

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          First-year special fund costs in the range of $250,000 to 
          provide the initial and first follow-up reports. Annual costs 
          thereafter for two reports should not exceed $125,000.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . This bill is based on a recommendation of the 
          Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), and is modeled after a 
          reporting requirement of Caltrans for the East Span of the San 
          Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge-currently the largest public works 
          project ever undertaken in California.  

          According to the LAO, "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."

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