BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1770
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 18, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

           AB 1770 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Introduced:  February 17, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:14-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill clarifies that the California Transportation Financing 
          Authority (CTFA) may approve rail projects that are, or include, 
          rolling stock, and provides that a project may be eligible for 
          financing under CTFA if it is owned or operated, rather than 
          owned and operated, by Caltrans or other project sponsor.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor fiscal impact. According to the governor's 2012-13 budget 
          proposal, the CFTA is not expected to be operable before June 
          30, 2013. Nevertheless, the minor changes proposed in this bill 
          would not significantly increase the CTFA's workload in the 
          future.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . AB 798 (Nava)/Chapter 474 of 2009 established the 
            seven-member CTFA, chaired by the State Treasurer, to provide 
            new capacity or improvements for transportation systems via 
            conduit financing through the issuance of revenue bonds.
           
          2)Purpose  . According to the author, AB 1770 is intended to 
            facilitate CTFA's ability to finance, or assist in financing, 
            transportation projects.  To this end, the bill provides 
            clarification that rolling stock may considered a rail project 
            or part of a rail project.  

            The bill also provides that a project sponsor may be either an 
            owner or an operator to seek financing through CTFA and need 
            not be both the owner and operator.  According to the author, 








                                                                  AB 1770
                                                                  Page  2

            this change is intended to allow for greater flexibility for a 
            project sponsor that is considering applying to CTFA for toll 
            or bond issuance authority. Because transportation projects 
            are complex and may involve multiple entities, this change 
            will provide flexibility in how the project sponsor may 
            partner with other entities to build, operate and maintain a 
            toll project.

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