BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1779|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1779
Author: Galgiani (D), et al.
Amended: 8/24/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/3/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-1, 8/16/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-11, 5/30/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Intercity rail agreements
SOURCE : Central Valley Rail Working Group
Sacramento Regional Transit District
San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission
San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), with approval of the Secretary
of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
(Secretary), to enter into interagency transfer agreements
for additional intercity rail corridors, to be entered into
between June 30, 2014, and June 30, 2015, and authorizes
Caltrans to enter into a transfer of services agreement
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with a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) to administer the
state-contracted Amtrak service operating between the San
Joaquin Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Sacramento.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/24/12 establish a uniform
framework for negotiating interagency transfer agreements
applicable to all state-supported intercity rail programs.
ANALYSIS : Since 1979, Caltrans has been contracting with
Amtrak for providing intercity passenger rail service
between Bakersfield, Sacramento, and Emeryville, with bus
connections to San Francisco and other communities.
Currently, there are four round trips daily to Emeryville
and two to Sacramento. Approximately one million persons
use the service annually.
Existing law:
1. Authorizes Caltrans to:
A. Contract with Amtrak for intercity passenger
rail service.
B. Program in the State Transportation Improvement
Program 15% of the funds available for
interregional transportation improvements to
intercity passenger rail and grade separations.
C. Enter into contracts with motor coach operators
to provide feeder bus service to intercity
passenger rail service, provided the service does
not require an operating subsidy.
D. Provide marketing services for the intercity
passenger rail program, acquire passenger cars and
locomotives, and take other actions to facilitate
the operation of the service.
E. Prepare a 10-year intercity passenger rail plan
updated every two years that the California
Transportation Commission (CTC) adopts.
2. Authorizes Caltrans, subject to the approval of the
Secretary, to enter into an agreement with a joint
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powers board transferring responsibility for
administering intercity passenger rail service in a
corridor.
3. Assigns Caltrans responsibility for operating intercity
passenger service for trains operating up to 125 miles
per hour.
4. Requires a joint powers board to submit an annual
business plan to the state, which is the basis of a
budget request for service.
5. Authorizes the Secretary to do the following:
A. Establish the level of state funding available
for operation of intercity passenger rail service
available in each corridor in which service
operates.
B. Allocate funds to a joint powers board
consistent with an interagency agreement that
includes among other things the level of service to
be operated.
6. Authorizes joint powers agencies to augment state funds
at their discretion to expand service, address funding
shortfalls, or achieve agreed upon performance
standards.
Existing federal law authorizes states or state-created
entities to contract with Amtrak for intercity passenger
rail service. Federal law requires states, according to a
national cost allocation process adopted by the Service
Transportation Board, to pay the full operating and capital
costs for intercity passenger rail service in which the
service is less than 750 miles in length. Federal law
exempts Interstate service from this provision.
This bill:
1. Authorizes, if the Secretary determines that
transferring responsibility for intercity passenger rail
service in a particular corridor will result in cost
reductions, Caltrans to enter into an interagency
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transfer agreement with a statutorily created local
joint powers board for the transfer of all
responsibility for administering intercity passenger
rail service, including associated feeder bus service,
in the corridor.
2. Authorizers a joint powers board to identify and secure
new supplemental sources of funding for the purpose of
expanding or maintaining intercity rail passenger
service levels, which may include state and federal
intercity rail resources, and provides local resources
may be available to offset any redirection, elimination,
reduction, or reclassification by the state of state
resources for operating intercity passenger rail
services only if the local resources are dedicated by a
vote of the local agency providing funds, with the
concurrence of the joint powers board.
3. Requires the Secretary, by June 30, 2014, establish
uniform performance standards for all corridors and
operators, but allows the Secretary to modify the
performance standards by no later than July 30, 2015, or
the effective date of the interagency transfer,
whichever comes first.
4. Prohibits the termination of feeder bus service for
intercity rail passengers unless the bus service fails
to meet specified cost effectiveness standards.
5. Provides an interagency transfer agreement may be
executed on or after June 30, 2014, but prior to June,
30, 2015.
6. Requires the transfer agreement cover the initial three
year period after the transfer, and authorizes, upon
mutual agreement, for it to be extended thereafter.
7. Requires the Secretary, if a transfer agreement is not
entered into prior to June 30, 2015, report to the
Governor and Legislature by June 30, 2016, explaining
why an acceptable agreement has not been developed with
specific recommendations for developing an acceptable
agreement.
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8. Requires a transfer agreement identify the annual level
of funding for the initial three years following the
transfer.
9. Specifies relative to the business plan required by
current law that the initial business and subsequent
business plans be consistent with the immediately
previous plans developed by Caltrans and the January
2014 business plan developed by the High-Speed Rail
Authority.
10.Prohibits the level of service for the initial three
years be less than the current level as of the effective
date of the transfer, except as specified.
11.Defines the San Joaquin Corridor as the Los
Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento Oakland
intercity passenger rail corridor.
12.Creates the San Joaquin JPA Board consisting of the
following members:
One member from the Sacramento Regional Transit
District.
One member from the San Joaquin Regional Rail
Commission, who shall be a resident of San Joaquin
County.
One member from the Stanislaus Council of
Governments.
One member of the Merced County Association of
Governments.
One member from the Madera County Transportation
Commission.
One member from the Fresno Council of
Governments.
One member of the Kings County Association of
Governments.
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One member of the Tulare County Association of
Governments.
One member of the Kern Council of Governments.
One member of the board of directors of a
regional transportation agency or rail transit
operator that serves Contra Costa County.
One member of a regional transportation agency or
rail transit operator that serves Alameda County that
the Alameda Board of Supervisors appoints and who
must be a resident of that county.
13.Deems the San Joaquin JPA Board organized if six of the
agencies elect to appoint a member prior to December 31,
2013.
14.Requires the San Joaquin JPA protects existing services
and facilities and seek to expand service as warranted.
Background
The state funds three intercity passenger rail routes in
California. Two routes, the San Joaquin route and the
Pacific Surfliner route, serving the LOSSAN Corridor (Los
Angeles-San Diego-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo) are
administered by Caltrans and the third route, the Capitol
Corridor (traveling from San
Jose-Oakland-Sacramento/Auburn) is administered by the
Capitol Corridor JPA. Amtrak operates all three routes
under contract with Caltrans. Nationally, the Pacific
Surfliner is the second most patronized after the Northeast
Corridor service; the Capitol Corridor the fourth; and the
San Joaquin the fifth. California has the largest and most
successful state-supported intercity passenger rail program
in the country.
Comments
This author introduced this bill to enable the transfer of
administrative responsibility of the San Joaquin intercity
passenger rail service from Caltrans to a new JPA,
following the model of the Capitol Corridor JPA. It is
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hoped that the JPA will bring a greater local perspective
to the operation of the service. This bill is permissive
legislation, which enables regional governance and
management of the existing San Joaquin intercity passenger
rail service between
Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento-Oakland.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs to Caltrans of approximately $200,000
(Public Transportation Account) to administer the
transition of operations and management to the JPA.
Cost pressures to maintain current levels of service
for three years due to expected reductions in federal
funding for intercity rail (Public Transportation
Account). Although those federal reductions would be
related to service in the San Diego-Los Angeles-San Luis
Obispo intercity rail corridor (LOSSAN corridor), this
bill reduces flexibility to address shortfalls
statewide.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/21/12)
Central Valley Rail Working Group (co-source)
Sacramento Regional Transit District (co-source)
San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (co-source)
San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council (co-source)
California Central Valley Economic Development Corporation
California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley
California Transit Association
Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
Cities of Corcoran, Elk Grove, Fowler, Huron, Kingsburg,
Lodi, Mendota, Merced, Modesto, Sacramento, Selma,
Stockton, Turlock, Visalia
City of Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
Contra Costa Transportation Authority
County of Fresno
Fresno Council of Governments
Fresno Regional Workforce Investment Board
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Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency
Madera County Transportation Commission
Merced County of Association of Governments
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
San Joaquin Council of Governments
San Joaquin Regional Transit District
San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
Stanislaus Council of Governments
Steve Cohn, Sacramento City Councilmember and Board Member
of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority,
Sacramento Regional Transit and Sacramento Area Council
of Governments
Tulare County Association of Governments
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/21/12)
City of Bakersfield
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-11, 5/30/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning,
Nestande, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Harkey, Jones, Knight, Logue,
Mansoor, Morrell, Nielsen, Silva, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Fletcher, Garrick, Gorell, Valadao
JJA:dkd 8/27/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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