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

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority's (CCTA) is in the process of developing both the 2014 Countywide Transportation Plan (CTP) and a Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP). 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.talics

As the TWIC has discussed at past meetings, the development of the CTP resulted in a dialog regarding the need for additional revenue. 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 CCTA Board approved this activity at their March, 2015 meeting.

At previous TWIC meetings we have discussed the basis on which CCTA is developing the plan, the process, and schedule. For background purposes that material is available at the links below.

June 1, 2015 TWIC
http://64.166.146.155/docs/2015/TWIC/20150601_557/567_06-01-15%20TWIC%20Agenda%20Packet.pdf#page=41

May 4, 2015 TWIC
http://64.166.146.155/docs/2015/TWIC/20150504_556/566_566_05-04-15_1530_AGENDApacket.pdf#page=83

Staff has initiated an an internal coordination process which includes meetings of all District office staff and relevant Department Directors and updates to the Board of Supervisors. That process was initiated using the BOS's October 21, 2014 letter to the Contra Costa Transportation Authority as a starting point for policy discussions. That letter can be seen here:

http://64.166.146.155/docs/2014/TWIC/20141204_373/384_12-04-14_1201_AGENDApacket.pdf#page=56

A verbal update will be given at the July TWIC meeting on the TEP process, internal coordination, and when to bring the matter to the full Board of Supervisors for discussion.

One issue being discussed with the TEP process potentially crosses over to the State discussion below. The amount of maintenance funding in a new measure may be affected by actions at the state.

In theory, if substantial new state transportation revenues are generated, that could relieve local jurisdictions of some maintenance burden. However, issues related to timing (20+ year local measure vs. 5 year state solution), revenue protection (to prevent the state from raiding transportation funds to resolve cash flow problems), and the scale of the maintenance backlog (deferred maintenance forecasts may still exceed the additional, proposed increases) would need to be reconciled when considering this state/local dynamic.

RECOMMENDATION: Discuss CCTA's CTP and TEP processes, internal coordination and DIRECT staff as appropriate.

2) STATE

Legislation
As with last month, the July state report will be largely be verbal, legislative activities are currently too fluid to make a written report practical.

Recent reports from Mark Watts, the County's legislative advocate are attached. Most relevant is the July 8th report which discusses how the Special Session on transportation finance is proceeding. Staff will provide a verbal update on the status of the Special Session at the July TWIC meeting. At the time of submission of this report, activities are largely informational and related to reaffirming the need for transportation infrastructure investment.

Also attached to this report are two related pieces of communication, 1) the "Go Big" letter from the state's large Metropolitan Planning Organizations (including our Metropolitan Transportation Commission) to both houses regarding transportation finance, and 2) the Contra Costa County BOS's letter to our legislative delegation on the same topic (draft, authorized by the BOS on 7/7/15).

A complete table of tracked legislation is attached to this report to facilitate any dialog necessary. A high-priority subset of the complete list is also attached.

On July 8, 2015 the County’s legislative advocate, Mark Watts, met with Caltrans staff regarding the requirements in grant agreements relative to the Southern Pacific Rail Road Property, currently in use as the Iron Horse Trail. Caltrans had been exploring options internally with Budget Office grant administrators and the legal division related to addressing the aged grant requirements.

Caltrans understands 1) the corridor is and has been in use as a viable, effective transportation facility, 2) is being maintained by the County as such, and 3) is directly supportive and consistent with new state and local policies relative to greenhouse gas reduction, active transportation, safe routes to school, policies that were not in place at the time the original grant was made.

They have concluded that the grant requirements in question can only be relieved fully by California Transportation Commission (CTC) action, although as the grant administrators, they could enter into a negotiated settlement with the County.

Recognizing that it is in the public interest to relieve the County of the grant obligations, the approach called for is to directly seek CTC action for full relief. The question is what mechanism will be used to pursue that relief through the CTC. Mr. Watts is recommending that a small delegation from Contra Costa County meet with state representatives to discuss the situation in the very near future.

If available, additional information will be provided verbally at the July TWIC meeting. TWIC should be prepared to discuss members of a Contra Costa delegation to meet with Caltrans on this issue in Sacramento.

RECOMMENDATION: The Committee should DISCUSS state legislative activities of interest to the County and take ACTION as appropriate.

3) FEDERAL

Expiration of MAP-21 AND Continuing Resolutions: The current federal transportation funding authorization expires on July 31 of this month. In late June, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the "Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy" Act (DRIVE) highway bill (S. 1647). The bill includes a few new programs but largely extends MAP-21 for six years. The DRIVE bill does not include any new revenue which the Senate Finance Committee will need to identify.

Of note to the County are the increases in funding and prioritization for bridges listed in the DRIVE Act summary available at the link below:

http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/436cfe2b-bda3-4c01-aa31-7edb72aa2f82/20150622driveactsummary.pdf

S.1626 - Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act: Staff is working with Paul Schlessinger, the County's federal legislative advocate, to determine if S.1626 would provide funds to study and address rail needs in the northern waterfront area. A verbal update and recommendation by staff will be provided at the meeting.

RECOMMENDATION: DISCUSS that status of federal transportation funding legislation and take ACTION as appropriate.