BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 749
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Steinberg
VERSION: 1/4/12
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: January 10, 2012
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 typically the chairs of the
transportation policy committees in each house of the
Legislature. The CTC programs 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 749 (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.Exempts the CTC in adopting guidelines from the
Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
3.Sets forth a process governing the CTC's adoption of
guidelines to begin after January 1, 2013, except for
guidelines adopted to implement the State Transportation
Improvement Program (STIP), as follows:
a. The CTC's legal counsel shall 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. CTC staff first presents proposed guidelines 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. CTC must adopt its guidelines by a majority of its
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.
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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. State agencies
adopt regulations 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, public agencies, therefore, adopt guidelines
through a relatively informal process as compared to the
process for regulations.
2.Previous version of bill vetoed . Governor Schwarzenegger
vetoed an identical bill, SB 1348 (Steinberg), in 2010. That
bill unanimously passed this committee and both houses of the
Legislature. 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."
3.Identical version of this bill passed on consent . Last year,
SB 126 (Steinberg) passed this committee and the Senate on
consent. The author amended an entirely new subject matter
into SB126 in the Assembly.
4.Recommend consent . It is recommended that this bill be placed
on consent.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
January 4, 2012)
SUPPORT: None received.
SB 749 (STEINBERG) Page 4
OPPOSED: None received.