BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 935
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 935 (Frazier) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill revises the membership of the Board of the San
Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority
(WETA). Specifically, this bill:
1)Increases from five to seven, the number of board members on
WETA.
2)Increases from one to two each the number of board members
appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of
the Assembly. Requires the appointments of Senate Rules to be
from Contra Costa and San Mateo Counties, respectively and
requires the appointments of the Speaker to be from Solano and
Alameda Counties respectively.
3)Establishes requirements two of the three existing
appointments to WETA made by the Governor.
a) Requires the Governor to appoint one resident of the
City and County of San Francisco.
b) Requires the Governor to appoint one representative of
labor.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible fiscal impact.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author argues this bill gives the affected
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counties a voice on the board which is appropriate given that
all these are all counties that play an important role in WETA
and have increasing interests in the new routes that are being
determined to each of the respective counties. According to
the author, the current board does not specifically represent
those counties affected by WETA board decisions.
2)Support . Supporters, including the transportation authorities
from the counties of San Mateo, Contra Costa and Solano, argue
the proposed expansion of the Bay Area's ferry system will
necessitate adequate representation from the counties that
will be affected by WETA decisions.
3)Background . AB 428 (Perata), Chapter 1011, Statutes of 1999,
established the WETA to develop a comprehensive plan for
developing and enhancing ferry services throughout the
nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. SB 976 (Torlakson),
Chapter 734, Statutes of 2007, expanded its responsibilities
to integrate emergency waterborne transit services in the
event of catastrophic emergency road closures. WETA
administers Proposition 1B (Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction,
Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006) funds
allocated for waterborne transit security.
Currently, the five members of the board of directors each
serve six-year terms. The governor appoints three board
members, the Senate Rules Committee appoints one, and the
Speaker of the Assembly appoints one. The governor designates
the chair and vice-chair. This bill changes the board of
directors from a majority appointed by the Governor to a
majority appointed by the Legislature.
Within the WETA boundaries, there are nine ferry terminals,
one in Solano County, four in the City and County of San
Francisco, one in San Mateo County, and three in Alameda
County. WETA states there are six proposed ferry routes, four
traveling from Contra Costa County to San Francisco, one in
San Mateo County going to San Francisco, one and Alameda
County to San Francisco route and one within the City and
County of San Francisco
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Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081