In developing transportation related legislative issues and proposals to bring forward for consideration by TWIC, staff receives input from the Board of Supervisors (BOS), references the County's adopted Legislative Platforms, coordinates with our legislative advocates, partner agencies and organizations, and consults with the Committee itself.
Recommendations are summarized in the Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s) section at the end of this report and specific recommendations are underlined in the report below. This report includes three sections, 1) LOCAL, 2) STATE, and 3) FEDERAL.
1) LOCAL
Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP)
The Contra Costa Transportation Authority's (Authority) has been in the process of developing both the 2014 Countywide Transportation Plan (CTP) and a Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP) to potentially be put to a vote in November 2016. A TEP is a statutorily required component of a transportation sales tax. These items are standing item for the foreseeable future. New material below is shown in italics.
As the TWIC has discussed at past meetings, the development of the CTP resulted in a dialog regarding the need for additional revenue for transportation improvements. The outcome of those discussions was to initiate the process to go to the ballot in November 2016 with a new transportation sales tax. The Authority Board approved this activity at their March, 2015 meeting.
At their November meeting, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority decided to suspend development of the CTP. Work on the TEP will continue independent of the CTP.
At previous TWIC and Board of Supervisors (Board) meetings we have discussed the basis on which the Authority is developing the plan, the process, and schedule. The Board has not yet endorsed the proposed transportation sales tax. For background purposes the latest full report to the Board is available at the link below.
September 15, 2015
http://64.166.146.245/docs/2015/BOS/20150915_640/650_09-15-15_826_AGENDApacket.pdf#page=128
TEP Update
At their November 3, 2015 meeting, the Board approved a letter transmitting comments and priorities on the TEP to the CCTA. The final letter is attached to this report.
County staff will continue to pursue these priorities at the Regional Transportation Planning Committees and through direct communication with CCTA staff.
Process
Staff from the County and CCTA continue to communicate as necessary during the development of the TEP and ordinance if the effort is successful.
RECOMMENDATION: The Committee should DISCUSS local transportation issues of interest to the County and take ACTION as appropriate.
2) STATE
Legislative Report
The latest report from the County's legislative advocate, Mark Watts, is below. Mr. Watts will be present at the December Committee meeting to discuss the state budget, Special Session/Conference Committee, Iron Horse Corridor status, various transportation revenue proposals (see attached information regarding regional gas tax, and energy extraction fees), and other items of interest to the Committee.
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11/19/2015 Report
As an update on the Special Session Conference Committee Hearings, several of the conferees continue to work through the issues with one another. Throughout the two Conference Committee meetings that have taken place to date, we have active engagement between the Democrat and Republican committee members. Additionally, industry and transportation stakeholders have been meeting with a variety of members in their districts as schedules permit. Although the Conference Committee Co-Chairs actively considered conducting a third Conference Committee Hearing to take place in the Central Valley, but that did not materialize.
In the meantime, news on the overall state financial picture has been released by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), essentially finding that the state budget is in its best shape to address future economic downturns in memory, with the state’s three principal General Fund revenue streams exceeding the adopted 2015-16 budget assumptions by more than $3.6 billion. Moreover, without any further new budgetary commitments, the LAO are also projecting that 2016-17 would see a buildup of reserves on the order of $11.7 billion. Admittedly, there are risks in their assessment, but the Rainy Day Fund would be the main recipient of the increased reserves they project and would be available to the legislature to mitigate impacts on public programs.
This budgetary news is important as the Special Session Conference Committee prepares to move ahead in January, as a key impasse in discussions between conferees and the legislative caucuses has been over the prioritization of budgetary resources, particularly in the context of the impact of recovering the weight fees on the state General Fund.
Finally, the Administration today expressed its intention to release what they characterize as a “slightly” revised Transportation Plan, possibly as soon as tomorrow.
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County Sponsored Legislation
In 2015 Anthony Cannella sponsored a bill (SB 632) related to school zones which was developed by the County. The bill was an outgrowth of the County's school siting and safety efforts. SB 632 (attached - SB 632 BILLTEXT) allows local jurisdictions to expand school zones (or "slow zones") based on an engineering and traffic survey and modifies statutes related to "when children are present" signage. SB 632 is a two year bill and will return in 2016.
In a potentially related effort, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is developing a proposal for an automated speed enforcement (ASE) bill in 2016, information is attached to this report. The Committee discussed ASE in 2015 and authorized staff to examine the ASE concept.
An ASE bill could be a potential compliment to SB 632:
- A criticism of SB 632 is inadequate enforcement is present, additional school zone signage will not be taken seriously. An ASE system could address that concern.
- A concern related to ASE is where implementation would occur. SB 632 could constrain and define the limited areas in which ASE would be authorized.
Staff recommends continuing to advocate for SB 632 and continue to coordinate with SFMTA in their ASE advocacy efforts.
RECOMMENDATION: The Committee should DISCUSS state legislative activities of interest to the County, including specific recommendations above and take ACTION as appropriate.
3) FEDERAL
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11/19/2015 Report from Mark Watts
15 months after the Congress enacted the first extension of MAP-21 (the federal transportation authorization measure) in July, 2014 and, later, four short-term extensions, a select group of House and Senate leaders met today in a process parallel to what we are pursuing in California: new funding for transportation. The Congress has established a Conference Committee, as has been formed here, and yesterday, they began addressing the differences between each chamber’s bill in the hopes of passing a final version within the next few weeks.
MAP-21 is scheduled to expire on November 20th, but the House has passed a short two-week extension giving them until December 4th to finalize an agreement with the Senate on a full transportation bill. At this writing, the Senate is expected to pass their short-term bill before this Friday when the current extension expires. As reported widely, Conference Committee Chairman Bill Shuster and the rest of the Committee leaders intend to deliver their conference report (i.e., the final bill) by November 30th.
As they stand now, both the House and Senate bills each would cover six years, but neither body identified sufficient new funding to pay for more than three years. Consequently, some negotiators have suggested that the bill be shortened by one or two years so that the amount of funding available could be condensed to increase annual spending.
A further parallel between Congress’ approach and California’s is that most of the work will be conducted behind the scenes; while the Conference Committee met yesterday, Committee members and in particular, Committee staff, continue to work on the bill on a daily basis.
I have been tracking the Conference Action to better understand and to be be prepared in the event there will be necessary state reconciliation legislation.
RECOMMENDATION: DISCUSS that status of federal transportation funding legislation and take ACTION as appropriate.
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