Bill Text: CA SB878 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Office of the Transportation Inspector General.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2012-09-30 - In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending. [SB878 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB878-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 878 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2012
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 4, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal)
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Part 5.1 (commencing with Section 14460) to Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 878, DeSaulnier. Office of the Transportation Inspector
General.
Existing law creates various state transportation agencies,
including the Department of Transportation and the High-Speed Rail
Authority, with specified powers and duties. Existing law provides
for the allocation of state transportation funds, including fuel tax
revenues allocated from the Highway Users Tax Account, to various
transportation purposes. Existing law provides funding for
transportation capital improvement projects undertaken by the
department or regional or local transportation agencies.
This bill would create the Office of the Transportation Inspector
General in state government as an independent office that would not
be a subdivision of any other government entity, to ensure that all
state, regional, and local agencies expending state transportation
funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with
federal and state laws. The bill would provide for the Governor to
appoint the Inspector General for a 6-year term, subject to
confirmation by the Senate, and would provide that the Transportation
Inspector General may not be removed from office during the term
except for good cause. The bill would specify certain duties and
responsibilities of the Transportation Inspector General, would
require an annual report to the Legislature and Governor, and would
provide for funding the office, to the extent possible, from federal
transportation funds, with other necessary funding to be made
available in proportion to the activities of the office from the
Highway Users Tax Account and an account from which high-speed rail
activities may be funded.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 5.1 (commencing with Section 14460) is added to
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
PART 5.1. OFFICE OF THE TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR GENERAL
14460. (a) There is hereby created in state government the
independent Office of the Transportation Inspector General, which
shall not be a subdivision of any other governmental entity, to
ensure that the Department of Transportation, 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.
(b) The Governor shall appoint, subject to confirmation by the
Senate, the Transportation Inspector General to a six-year term. The
Transportation Inspector General may not be removed from office
during that term, except for good cause.
(c) The Transportation Inspector General shall review policies,
practices, and procedures, and conduct audits and investigations of
all activities involving state transportation funds in consultation
with all affected agencies. Specifically, the Transportation
Inspector General's duties and responsibilities shall include, but
not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) To identify best practices in the delivery of transportation
projects and develop policies or recommend proposed legislation
enabling the state and local agencies to adopt these practices when
practicable.
(2) (A) To provide objective analysis of, and when possible, offer
solutions to, concerns raised by the public or generated within
agencies involving the state's transportation infrastructure and
project delivery methods.
(B) The Transportation Inspector General may undertake analyses of
concerns raised pursuant to this paragraph regarding regional or
local agencies only if they involve allegations of "fraud, waste, or
abuse" as that term is used in subdivision (f) of Section 53087.6.
(3) To conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and
investigations relating to the programs and operations of all state,
regional, and local transportation agencies with state-funded
transportation projects. This paragraph shall not apply to any
regional or local transportation agency programs or operations that
do not include any state funding, or to any state programs or
operations with projects or activities that do not include more than
25 percent state funding.
(4) To recommend policies promoting economy and efficiency in the
administration of programs and operations of all state, regional, and
local transportation agencies with state-funded transportation
projects.
(d) (1) The Transportation Inspector General's office shall not
conduct any audit or investigation that would be redundant to or
concurrent with any audit or investigation of the same matter being
conducted contemporaneously by another state, regional, or local
entity, or planned to be initiated pursuant to state or federal law,
local ordinance, or adopted agency board policy within 18 months of
the notification of the intent to undertake the audit or
investigation by the Transportation Inspector General. The state,
regional, or local entity shall provide the Transportation Inspector
General with a summary of the results of the audit or investigation
upon its completion, if requested.
(e) The Transportation Inspector General shall report annually to
the Governor and Legislature with a summary of his or her findings,
investigations, and audits. The summary shall be posted on the
Transportation Inspector General's Internet Web site and shall
otherwise be made available to the public upon its release to the
Governor and Legislature. The summary shall include, but need not be
limited to, significant problems discovered by the Transportation
Inspector General and whether recommendations of the Inspector
General relative to investigations and audits have been implemented
by the affected agencies. The report shall be submitted to the
Legislature pursuant to Section 9795.
(f) The Transportation Inspector General shall, in consultation
with the Department of Finance, develop a methodology for producing a
workload budget to be used for annually adjusting the budget of the
Office of the Transportation Inspector General, beginning with the
budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year. To the extent possible, the
office shall be funded with federal transportation funds. Should
federal funding not be available to fully fund this office, funding
shall be made available, in proportion to the activities of the
office, from the Highway Users Tax Account and an account from which
high-speed rail activities may be funded.
