SB 901, as introduced, Vidak. High-speed rail: funding.
(1) Article XVI of the California Constitution requires a general obligation bond act to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds, and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 2⁄3 vote of each house of the Legislature and by a majority of the voters. Article XVI authorizes the Legislature, at any time after the approval of a general obligation bond act by the voters, to reduce the amount of the indebtedness authorized by the act to an amount not less than the amount contracted at the time of the reduction. Existing law, the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and related rail purposes.
This bill, subject to voter approval, would amend the bond act to provide that no further bonds shall be sold for high-speed rail and related rail purposes, and would also explicitly authorize the net proceeds received from outstanding bonds issued and sold prior to the effective date of these provisions, upon appropriation, to be redirected from those high-speed rail purposes to retiring the debt incurred from the issuance and sale of those outstanding bonds. The bill would direct the Secretary of State to submit these provisions to the voters on the ballot of the November 4, 2014, statewide general election.
The bill would also provide that, until November 5, 2014, bond funds made available pursuant to the bond act shall not be expended for high-speed rail purposes, and no additional bonds shall be issued or sold pursuant to the bond act.
(2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) In 2008, the voters approved Proposition 1A, which
4authorized the State of California to issue up to $9.95 billion in
5bonds to construct a high-speed train system and established the
6framework and requirements that the system would be required to
7achieve.
8(b) Since the passage of Proposition 1A, the voters have learned
9that the high-speed train system will not be able to meet any of
10the requirements of that measure, as follows:
11(1) In Proposition 1A, voters were told that the travel time from
12Los Angeles to San Francisco would be two hours, 40
minutes.
13Current estimates now show that high-speed trains will not be able
14to meet this requirement. Instead, it is believed it will take more
15than three hours for the high-speed train to travel between Los
16Angeles and San Francisco.
17(2) Voters were told that the high-speed train would be able to
18maintain a constant speed of 220 miles per hour throughout its
19journey. The plan adopted by the High-Speed Rail Authority now
20shows that the high-speed train service will have to travel at
21dramatically lower speeds on tracks shared by regional rail systems.
22(3) A commitment was made that high-speed rail would reduce
23the impacts on communities and the environment by following
24existing transportation or utility corridors. The routes that have
25been released by the High-Speed Rail Authority show that the
26high-speed trains will be going through the middle of family farms,
P3 1small businesses,
and residential communities that are nowhere
2near existing transportation or utility corridors.
3(4) The voters were told that the high-speed train system would
4be financially viable and would obtain private and public funds
5for construction and operation. The cost of the project has
6continued to increase and no private funds have been identified.
7(c) In November 2013, a superior court judge ruled that the state
8could not authorize the issuance of $8 billion in Proposition 1A
9bonds and required the High-Speed Rail Authority to rework its
10funding plan to identify the funding sources for the project.
11(d) The attitude of voters toward the high-speed rail project has
12changed dramatically since 2008. A recent USC Dornsife/Los
13Angeles Times poll found that 52 percent of Californians are now
14opposed to the project and that
over 70 percent want the project
15put back on the ballot for a revote.
Section 2704.045 is added to the Streets and Highways
17Code, to read:
Notwithstanding Section 2704.04, it is the intent of
19the Legislature and the people of California that no further bonds
20shall be issued and sold for purposes of Sections 2704.06 and
212704.095.
Section 2704.096 is added to the Streets and Highways
23Code, to read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
25chapter, no further bonds shall be issued and sold for purposes of
26Sections 2704.06 and 2704.095 on and after the effective date of
27this section.
28(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the net
29proceeds received from outstanding bonds issued and sold pursuant
30to Sections 2704.06 and 2704.095 prior to the effective date of
31this section may, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be
32redirected from those high-speed rail purposes for use in retiring
33the debt incurred from the issuance and sale of those outstanding
34bonds.
Section 2704.78 is added to the Streets and Highways
36Code, to read:
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
38bond funds made available pursuant to Chapter 20 (commencing
39with Section 2704) shall not be expended for high-speed rail
P4 1purposes, and no additional bonds shall be issued or sold pursuant
2to that chapter, on and after the effective date of this section.
3(2) This subdivision shall not preclude the use of bond proceeds
4to retire high-speed rail bond debt to the extent authorized by law.
5(b) This section shall become inoperative on November 5, 2014,
6and as of January 1, 2015, is repealed unless a later enacted statute,
7that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends the dates
8on
which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
Sections 2 and 3 of this act, adding Sections 2704.045
10and 2704.096 to the Streets and Highways Code, would modify
11the single object or work of a general obligation bond act
12previously submitted to the voters by the Legislature pursuant to
13Section 1 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, and
14subsequently approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the
15November 4, 2008, statewide general election. Accordingly,
16Sections 2 and 3 of this act shall become effective only upon
17approval by the voters. The Secretary of State shall submit Sections
182 and 3 of this act to the voters on the ballot of the next statewide
19general election.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
21immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
22the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
23immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
24In order to make necessary amendments to the Safe, Reliable
25High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century as
26quickly as possible to prevent any further funding of a high-speed
27passenger train system that differs in both cost and substance from
28the project approved by the voters in 2008, it is necessary that this
29act take effect immediately.
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