BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: SB
486
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 486 Author: DeSaulnier
As Introduced: February 21, 2013
Hearing Date: April 9, 2013
Consultant: Paul Donahue
SUBJECT
Caltrans: Office of Legal Compliance and Ethics
DESCRIPTION
1)Creates the Office of Legal Compliance and Ethics within
the Transportation Agency, with responsibility for
preventing and detecting serious breaches of Department
of Transportation (Caltrans) policy, fraud, waste, abuse,
including any acts of criminal conduct within Caltrans.
2)Requires the director of the office to report quarterly,
at a noticed public hearing of the California
Transportation Commission, regarding performance of and
activities related to investigations.
3)Requires the director of the office to report annually to
the Governor and the Legislature with a summary of
investigations. The bill would require the summary to be
posted on the Agency's Internet website.
4)The bill would require the director of the office to
provide information and evidence relating to criminal
acts to the State Auditor's office and appropriate law
enforcement officials, and to refer matters for civil,
criminal, and administrative action to appropriate
prosecutorial agencies, including the Attorney General.
EXISTING LAW
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Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency in state
government with various duties and responsibilities.
BACKGROUND
1)Purpose of the bill : The author states that SB 486 seeks
to increase accountability within Caltrans by removing
the audits and investigations responsibilities from the
department and requiring them to report to the CTC and
Legislature on a regular basis.
According to the author, "[i]n such a large organization,
it is nearly impossible to keep track of every employee
or ensure that each dollar is spent efficiently and
effectively. Recent media investigations and state audit
reports have created a picture of questionable practices
and mismanagement within Caltrans, such as failure to
comply with department inspection protocols, inability to
track staff time by project, and inappropriate use of
state resources.
"While Caltrans has a Division of Audits and
Investigations, it reports only to department management
and has had little effect on improving Caltrans
performance. An entity outside of Caltrans conducting
audits and investigations and reporting its findings to
the administration, the Legislature, and the public
should instill some discipline and improve Caltrans'
management of the state transportation system and
funding."
In November, 2011, the Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee held a Caltrans oversight hearing to
investigate allegations of improprieties within Caltrans'
program to inspect construction of new structures,
including the new Bay Bridge.
2)Recent report on Caltrans by State Auditor : On March 28,
2013, the Bureau of State Audits released a report
concerning its investigation of Caltrans. Among other
things, the report found that several Caltrans workers
falsified test data on transportation projects, claimed
hundreds of hours of overtime they didn't work and
engaged in an "inexcusable neglect of duty," according to
the report.
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Specifically, the investigation discovered that from 2004
to 2009, a technician falsified 10 test results on
bridges and retaining walls, and an engineer was involved
in an additional incident. The technicians' supervisor
failed to properly oversee his subordinates' time sheets
or detect the testing lapses. The same manager improperly
instructed workers in 2008 to take state-owned steel
beams and other material to his property in Susanville.
Some of the scrap steel was used for a large gate. The
falsified test data involved, in part, the new Benicia
Bridge, the Lake Hodges Bridge in San Diego, the La
Sierra Avenue Bridge in Riverside, an overhead sign on
Interstate 580 in Oakland and a retaining wall in Los
Angeles.
Caltrans in 2011 examined the subject projects and
declared them structurally sound, although the state
auditor questioned the state agency's delay. "Despite
identifying these additional data falsifications,
Caltrans did not at that time take any action to
determine whether the structures affected were indeed
sound," according to the report.<1>
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<1> The auditor's report also noted that 2 Caltrans
technicians were paid more than $13,000 for 267 hours of
overtime in 2008 they did not work. In addition, they
falsely listed time conducting tests for which they
received a higher pay rate.
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PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 878 (DeSaulnier) 2011-2012 Session. Would have created
the independent Office of the Transportation Inspector
General within state government to ensure that CalTrans,
the High-Speed Rail Authority, and all other state,
regional, and local agencies expending state transportation
funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in
compliance with applicable federal and state laws. (Vetoed)
AB 471 (Lowenthal) 2011-2012 Session. Would have created an
independent Office of Inspector General to oversee the
HSRA. (Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.)
SB 835 (Strickland) 2009-2010 Session. Would have
established the Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure
Commission of 2011 and provides for the creation of an
independent commission charged with examining state
bureaucracies in California with the goal to eliminate or
consolidate duplicative agencies and bureaucracies. (Held
in Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 887 (Hollingsworth) 2009-2010 Session. Would have
created the Government Reform, Accountability, and Sunset
Review Act, establishing the Office of Inspector General
with the mandate to deter, detect, and disclose waste,
fraud, and abuse in state government. (Failed passage in
Senate Governmental Organization Committee)
SUPPORT:
None on file
OPPOSE:
None on file
DUAL REFERRAL: Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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