Bill Text: CA SB1189 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-24 - Held in committee and under submission. [SB1189 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1189-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1189 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 26, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hancock
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Ma )
( Coauthor: Senator Alquist
)
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Beall )
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act relating to high-speed rail , and making an
appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1189, as amended, Hancock. The Safe, Reliable High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century: project funding.
Existing law, pursuant to 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, general election, provides
for the issuance of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for
high-speed train capital projects and other associated purposes.
Existing law makes $950 million of the proceeds of those bonds
available for capital improvements to intercity and commuter rail
lines and urban rail systems that provide direct connectivity to the
high-speed train system and its facilities, or that are part of the
construction of the high-speed train system, as specified, or that
provide capacity enhancements and safety improvements. Existing law
requires the California Transportation Commission to allocate those
funds to eligible recipients, as defined, and to develop guidelines
to implement those provisions.
This bill would appropriate $523,400,000 from the High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Fund to the Department of Transportation for
allocation by the California Transportation Commission as provided
for in specified guidelines adopted by the commission.
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, general election, provides that $950 million
of net proceeds of bonds issued pursuant to the bond act shall be
allocated to eligible recipients for capital improvements to
intercity and commuter rail lines and urban rail systems that provide
direct connectivity to high-speed rail, as specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would appropriate funding from the $950 million net
proceeds of bonds described above to projects that eligible operators
have requested and that have been approved by the California
Transportation Commission.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: no yes .
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) In approving the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train
Bond Act for the 21st Century at the November 4, 2008, general
election, California voters approved $950 million in general
obligation bonds to be available for capital improvements to the
state's intercity and commuter rail lines and urban rail systems. The
funds, available upon appropriation by the Legislature, are for
improvements that provide direct connectivity to the high-speed train
system and its facilities, are part of the construction of the
high-speed train system, or are improvements that provide capacity
enhancements and safety improvements on the existing intercity,
commuter, or urban rail lines.
(b) Of the $950 million authorized for expenditure by the voters
for the purposes described in subdivision (a), 20 percent, or $190
million, is to be allocated among the three state-supported intercity
rail lines known as the Capitol Corridor line, the San Joaquin line,
and the Pacific Surfliner line (Intercity Rail Program). Eighty
percent, or $760 million, is to be allocated to other commuter and
urban rail line operators based on a formula outlined in the bond act
(Commuter and Urban Rail Program).
(c) The approved bond act requires commuter and urban rail line
operators that are eligible recipients of these state bond funds to
provide matching funds in an amount not less than the amount of bond
funds allocated to the recipient. This match requirement means for
every dollar of state bond funds invested in an eligible local
project, at least one dollar of nonbond funds will also be invested
in the project.
(d) The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the
21st Century requires the California Transportation Commission to
develop guidelines for the implementation of both the Intercity Rail
Program and the Commuter and Urban Rail Program. The commission is
also responsible for allocating the available funds to eligible
recipients in each program.
(e) On February 24, 2010, the commission adopted the program
guidelines for the $950 million High-Speed Passenger Train Bond
Program, consisting of the $190 million Intercity Rail Program and
the $760 million Commuter and Urban Rail Program.
(f) On May 20, 2010, the commission adopted the initial program of
projects to be funded by the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond
Program, a program that proposed to fund $262.4 million in projects
in the 2011-12 fiscal year alone.
(g) While the Budget Act of 2011, passed by the Legislature on
June 28, 2011, included an appropriation totaling more than $262
million to begin funding eligible projects in the commission-adopted
High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Program, all but $28 million of the
appropriation was vetoed.
(h) Notwithstanding the veto of a significant portion of the bond
funds appropriated for the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Program,
it remains imperative for the Legislature to appropriate bond funds
to eligible recipients so that project contracts can be signed,
mobility and safety improvements can commence, and immediate job
opportunities for Californians can be made available.
(i) According to commuter and urban rail service providers
throughout the state, the bond funds from the $760 million Commuter
and Urban Rail Program alone are estimated to fund no less than 15
capital improvement and safety projects in California, leveraging
more than $4.9 billion in nonstate transportation funds, and creating
nearly 200,000 jobs.
(j) The mobility and safety improvements funded by these bond
funds will benefit Californians in all regions of the state.
(k) The appropriation of bond funds for the High-Speed Passenger
Train Bond Program, as adopted and updated by the commission, is a
necessary precursor for rail mobility and safety improvements and for
job creation in California. It is, therefore, the intent of the
Legislature to appropriate these funds for allocation by the
commission to eligible rail operators requesting an allocation.
SEC. 2. Pursuant to Section 2704.095 of the
Streets and Highways Code, the sum of five hundred twenty-three
million four hundred thousand dollars ($523,400,000) is hereby
appropriated from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund to the
Department of Transportation for allocation by the California
Transportation Commission as provided for in the guidelines adopted
by the commission in Resolution HST1A-G-0910-01 on February 24, 2010,
and as those guidelines may be updated by the commission.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would appropriate funding from the net
proceeds of nine hundred fifty million dollars ($950,000,000) from
the issuance of bonds authorized by the Safe, Reliable High-Speed
Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century to be allocated for
intercity and commuter rail lines and urban rail systems, in
accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 2704.095 of the Streets
and Highways Code, for projects that have been requested by eligible
operators and have been approved by the California Transportation
Commission.
