Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
JULY 16, 2015
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE report on monthly State and Federal Legislative Remarks.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
This report was prepared on June 19, 2015 and will be updated with more current information at the Executive Management Committee on July 16, 2015.
Chair Ridley-Thomas and members of the committee, I am pleased to provide an update on a number of state legislative items.
Governor Jerry Brown Announced Budget Agreement
On June 16th, Governor Jerry Brown announced a budget agreement with Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins and Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León that follows the May Revision revenue estimates. The Governor also announced that he is calling the Legislature into special session on two issues. The first session would address the funding needs of the state’s road and highway system which was highlighted in Governor’s January Budget proposal. Proposals from lawmakers this year have ranged from vehicle fee and gas tax increases to surcharges on zero-emission vehicles. The other special session will address financing issues associated with Medi-Cal.
Transportation Loan Repayment
Staff are working to secure language in the State Budget that would ensure that specific transportation loans are included in the repayment of transportation loans. The specific program to be included is the Traffic Congestion Relief Program and would allow Metro to seek repayment of funds due to the East San Fernando Valley North/South project.
Special Session
With respect to the special session on infrastructure the Governor highlighted the following: “ Caltrans, the state’s Transportation Department, maintains 50,000 lane-miles of highway and nearly 13,000 state-owned bridges. While the repair, maintenance and efficient operation of the state’s highway system are vital to the state’s continued economic growth, current funding fails to adequately fund this necessary work. The state’s current fuel excise tax is sufficient to fund only $2.3 billion of work-leaving $5.7 billion in unfunded repairs each year.” According to a recent study by the California Transportation Commission, the state will need to spend over $500 billion over the next decade to maintain everything from airports, freight lines, and public transit systems. Between federal, state, and local sources, there is only enough funding to support about half of these investments.
Leadership in both the Senate and Assembly have proposed various ways of addressing this need. The Board recently took action to support efforts proposed by Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Chairman Jim Beall which would address the funding needs of the state’s road and highway system. The Chairman has also indicated his support for addressing transit’s funding needs as a part of this overall package.
State and local roads are an important part of our transportation system. At the same time public transit systems in the state do have important state of good repair needs.
Transportation Funding Proposals Advance
Both the Senate and Assembly are considering legislative proposals to address the Governor’s challenge to fund the state of good repair needs of the State Highway System. A number of proposals have been introduced in each house. These proposals not only deal with the challenges to the State system but also address the funding needs of the local street and road system. Staff will be presenting two of these proposals to the Board for their consideration in the June meeting cycle.
Metro Sponsored Legislation Advances
Metro sponsored measure SB 767 (De Leon) will soon be scheduled in policy committees in the Assembly. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Local Government and the Assembly Transportation Committees.
*Comments will be updated at the Committee meeting.
This report was prepared on June 19, 2015 and will be updated with more current information at the Executive Management Committee on July 16, 2015.
Chairman Ridley-Thomas and members of the committee, I am pleased to provide an update on a number federal transportation issues.
Upcoming 114th Congress - Surface Transportation Authorization Bill:
We continue to closely track efforts to extend MAP-21. We very much look forward to plans by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to mark-up a new surface transportation authorization bill on June 24, 2015. As details of this legislation are made public, we look forward to sharing them with all Board members.
Fiscal Year 2016 Transportation Appropriations Bill
We are fully engaged with both the House and Senate appropriations committees to ensure that our Board-approved 2015 Federal Legislative priorities are fully addressed in the transportation spending measures considered and adopted by the 114th Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives has already adopted their Fiscal Year 2016 transportation spending measure. We expect the U.S. Senate to act on their transportation spending measure next month.
PEPRA/13(c)
We continue to work cooperatively with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, along with key Executive Branch officials to favorably resolve the PEPRA/13(c) impasse. We are encouraged that all parties continue to remain engaged in working to ensure that the flow of federal transportation funds to our agency is not interrupted further.
TIGER
We are working to encourage the U.S. Department of Transportation to favorably review two TIGER grant applications we have submitted for consideration. Our TIGER grant applications are for the All Door Bus Boarding Project and for the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Project along the Metro-owned right of way in South Los Angeles.
We will be coordinating closely with Board members, members of the Los Angeles County Congressional Delegation and key stakeholders to increase our prospects for securing TIGER grants for these projects.
Conclusion:
Chairman Ridley-Thomas and members of the committee, thank you for your attention to the issues addressed in this report. This concludes my remarks before the committee. I would very much welcome the opportunity to respond to any questions members of the committee may have on this update or any other matter.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Legislative Matrix, July 2015
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Raffi Hamparian, Director, Federal Affairs, (213) 922-3769
Michael Turner, DEO, Government Relations, (213) 922-2122
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Ann Kerman, Interim Chief Communications Officer, (213) 922-7671
