BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 126
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Steinberg
VERSION: 1//27/11
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 12, 2011
SUBJECT:
California Transportation Commission: guidelines
DESCRIPTION:
This bill establishes a procedure for the California
Transportation Commission (CTC) to adopt guidelines.
ANALYSIS:
Established in 1978, the CTC provides a single venue for
addressing transportation development and funding issues in the
state. The CTC consists of eleven voting members and two
non-voting ex-officio members. Of the eleven voting members,
the governor appoints nine, the Senate Rules Committee appoints
one, and the Speaker of the Assembly appoints one. The two
ex-officio non-voting members are the chairs of the
transportation policy committees in each house of the
Legislature. The CTC programs allocate funds for the
construction of highway, passenger rail, and transit
improvements throughout California.
Existing law authorizes the CTC to adopt policy guidelines for
various transportation programs but provides little direction on
how the adoption process should proceed. Among the programs for
which the CTC adopts guidelines are the State Transportation
Improvement Program and regional transportation planning
processes. The passage of the Highway Safety, Traffic
Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006
(Proposition 1B) mandated the issuance of several new CTC
guidelines, including guidelines for the Corridor Mobility
Improvement Account (CMIA), the State Route 99 Corridor Program,
the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund, the Public Transportation
Modernization, Improvement, Service Enhancement Account, and the
Highway-Railroad Crossing Safety Account.
SB 126 (STEINBERG) Page 2
This bill :
1. Makes legislative findings and declarations
regarding the need to ensure that the CTC's process for
adopting program guidelines is understandable,
predictable, and transparent and provides ample
opportunity for public review and comment on proposed
guidelines.
2. Provides, notwithstanding any other provision,
in instances where the CTC adopts guidelines, the
guidelines will be exempt from the Administrative
Procedure Act (APA).
3. Sets forth a process governing the CTC's
adoption of guidelines after January 1, 2011, except for
guidelines adopted to implement the State Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP), as follows:
a. The CTC's legal counsel is required to
review the proposed guidelines for necessity,
authority, clarity, consistency, reference, and
redundancy and recommend any changes to the CTC
commissioners. Comments and recommendations made by
legal counsel will be subject to attorney-client
privilege, unless waived. The CTC Executive
Director is required to distribute the
recommendations and communications with legal
counsel to all commissioners.
b. Policy guidelines are to be first
presented at a CTC meeting for the purpose of
receiving public comment.
c. Proposed guidelines must include a
notice of the right of the public comment on the
guidelines.
d. At least 45 days prior to the adoption
of the guidelines, the CTC must distribute and make
available in electronic format copies of the
proposed guidelines for public review.
e. Following the proposed guideline review
process, the CTC staff must summarize all comments
and explain any recommended changes to the
guidelines in response to comments made. Staff
recommendations and a summary must be made public 15
days prior to a regular CTC meeting.
f. Guidelines must be adopted by a majority
SB 126 (STEINBERG) Page 3
of the commission membership.
4. Requires the CTC to maintain complete files on guideline
adoption proceedings, including a summary of each
objection or recommendation made and an explanation of
how the proposed guidelines were changed to accommodate
each objection or recommendation or the reason no change
was made.
5. Requires the CTC to include in its annual report to the
Legislature an accounting of its activities related to
guideline adoption during the prior year.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . With the increase in the number of policy guidelines
that the CTC is adopting, this legislation is intended to
systematize the process CTC uses to adopt policy guidelines
under its purview and to increase the transparency of the
process.
Policy guidelines and regulations are two very distinct
administrative tools to manage state programs. Regulations
are adopted according to the terms and conditions of the
Administrative Procedures Act. According to counsel, numerous
court decisions have ruled that administrative regulations are
an extension of a statute and carry the weight of law. Policy
guidelines, even when mandated by a statute, are an
elaboration of policy and do not have the weight of law.
Typically, the guidelines are adopted through a relatively
informal process compared to regulations.
2.Identical version of bill vetoed . Last year an identical
bill, SB 1348 (Steinberg), unanimously passed this committee
and both houses of the Legislature. Governor Schwarzenegger
vetoed the bill. In his veto message he wrote, "This bill is
unnecessary as it establishes a formal process which is very
similar to the process already used by the CTC."
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 6, 2011)
SB 126 (STEINBERG) Page 4
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.