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In developing transportation related 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, where provided, are underlined in the report below. This report includes four sections, 1: LOCAL, 2: STATE, and 3: FEDERAL.
1. LOCAL
No local report in March.
2. STATE
2.1: Legislative Report
The March State legislative report (Attached:March TWIC 2018 Report final)from the County's advocate, Mark Watts, is attached. Mr. Watts will be in attendance at the March meeting. The report covers the following issues:
- Board of Equalization Unable to Adopt Annual Adjustment
- Senate Bill 1 Repeal Efforts
- SB1 Allocations
- Transportation Leadership Changes
2.2 Specific Legislation
In addition to the information provided by Mr. Watts and the attached(March 2018 Leg Tracking List) legislation tracking list, staff is bringing the following bills/issues forward for consideration by the Committee:
Senate Bill 914 (Dodd): Construction Manager At-Risk (CMAR) Contracting For Counties
This CSAC sponsored legislation would expand existing county Construction Manager At-Risk (CMAR) authority. Counties can currently use CMAR for the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any building owned or leased by the county for projects over $1 million through January 1, 2023. SB 914 would expand that authority to other types of infrastructure projects, such as flood control projects.
Attached (SB914(FactSheet-Bill-Support Letter Template)is a copy of SB 914, a fact sheet and sample support letter. Staff is RECOMMENDING Committee approval to bring the bill and a draft letter of support to the full Board of Supervisors.
California Proposition 69 (June 2018): Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox and Appropriations Limit Exemption Amendment
Staff received a request (attached:Info Package: SB1-Prop69-Transportation Coalition) from CSAC to consider a position of support for Proposition 69 which was part of Senate Bill 1 (2017). The Board of Supervisors took a position of support on SB 1 on February 7, 2017.
Proposition 69 would require that revenue from the diesel sales tax and Transportation Improvement Fee (TIF) be dedicated for transportation-related purposes. As of 2018, the state constitution prohibited the legislature from using gasoline excise tax revenue or diesel excise tax revenue for general non-transportation purposes. The amendment would require the diesel sales tax revenue to be deposited into the Public Transportation Account, which was designed to distribute funds for mass transportation and rail systems. Proposition 69 would require the TIF revenue be spent on public streets and highways and public transportation systems. Although SB 1 requires revenue from the zero-emission vehicles fee to be placed in the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, Proposition 69 does not contain a provision creating a constitutional mandate for zero-emission vehicles fee revenue.
Proposition 69 would make revenue from SB 1's tax increases and fee schedules exempt from the state appropriations limit, also known as the Gann Limit. The Gann Limit prohibits the state government and local governments from spending revenue in excess of per-person government spending in fiscal year 1978-1979, with an adjustment allowed for changes in the cost-of-living and population. Amendments were made to the Gann Limit in 1988 and 1990, modifying the formula and requiring half of the excess revenue to be distributed to public education and the other half to taxpayer rebates. Rejecting the constitutional amendment would make SB 1's revenue subject to the Gann Limit. As of 2018, the Gann Limit had been exceeded just once in 1987.
CSAC also requested County's consider joining the "Coalition to Protect Local Transportation Improvements" and pass resolutions: 1) in support of Proposition 69 and 2) in opposition to the SB 1 repeal effort. Those materials are attached to this report.
Consistent with County support of SB 1 in 2017, Staff is RECOMMENDING the Committee forward to the Board of Supervisors the following recommended positions: Proposition 69 - SUPPORT, and SB1 Repeal - OPPOSE.
3. FEDERAL
3.1 Infrastructure Package Status - Information Only: In 2017 the Committee received reports of internal conflicts and confusion in the administration relative to a federal infrastructure bill, the outlook for movement in 2018 has not improved. Senator John Cornyn (Texas - Sen Majority Whip), was quoted as follows, "I think it's gonna be hard [passing an infrastructure bill], because we have so many other things to do and we don't have much time...".
3.2 Request from the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) for County support. Staff received a request from CABT, a nonprofit organization, to have the County send a letter to our federal delegation opposing proposals to authorize longer and heavier trucks on public roads. Material is attached (INFO-Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT), the list of supporters includes the California State Association of Counties(CSAC).
Staff recommends the Committee DIRECT staff to bring a letter to the Board of Supervisors in support of CABT's opposition to longer/heavier trucks.
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