State Capitol Updates
Streetsblog California
Transportation Equity Bills Defeated in Assembly Transpo Committee
Two bills that had the potential to increase equity in transportation planning died yesterday for lack of support.
April 19, 2016
Bill to Eliminate Free Parking Could Help Disabled People Find a Spot
Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) has introduced a bill that would require some people with disabled parking permits to pay, rather than park for free as long as they want. If it works, A.B. 2602 could free up parking spots for every driver, including disabled people who most need them. It could also potentially discourage some driving by people who now park free for as long as they like.
April 14, 2016
Transportation Committee Hears Bills: Active Transpo, High-Speed Rail, More
A marathon hearing in the Assembly Transportation Committee yesterday was a sign of looming deadlines in the California legislature. It was also an illustration of the strange and sometimes surreal world in which California's laws are debated and created.
April 12, 2016
CA Transportation Funding Should Reflect State Goals
Transportation funding in California has, as SBCA readers must know by now, reached a “crisis.” Shrinking gas tax revenues, combined with an increasing reliance on local sales taxes limited to specific transportation projects, have left our overbuilt and under-maintained highways, roads, and bridges without enough funds to keep them in a basic state of good repair.
April 7, 2016
A Few Good Bills
Continuing our coverage of bills making their way through the California legislative session, today we're highlighting some bills that we like. Some of these will likely be heard first at the Assembly Transportation Committee this Monday, April 11.
April 5, 2016
A Few Bad Bills
The California legislature is back from spring recess and the process of hearing and arguing about bills is beginning in earnest. In the next few days, Streetsblog California will talk about some exciting bills coming up that may need your support.
March 31, 2016
Santa Monica Lawmaker Takes Aim at California’s Housing Shortage
California State Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) has set his sights on tackling the dire shortage of homes—and the resulting affordability crisis—currently facing the state.
March 16, 2016
Legislative Update: CalBike Agenda for 2016
The California Bicycle Coalition, aka CalBike, continues to push for increasing funding for the Active Transportation Program, which currently receives $120 million per year. The bike coalition wants the state to add $100 million to the program, which sounds like a lot but is roughly one percent of the total transportation budget—even though bike and walking trips make up nearly 19 percent of all trips made in California. The state budget planning process, in which the two legislative houses and the governor negotiate a final budget by June, is one avenue for getting more funding.
March 3, 2016
CA Legislature Wrestles With How Best to Invest Climate Funds
As the California legislative session revs up, several committees have been holding oversight hearings on the state's cap-and-trade system.
February 19, 2016
A State Legislator Is Really Proposing to Slash Fines for Running a Red Light to Turn Right
State Senator Jerry Hill (D-Millbrae) has been earning a lot of attention recently for a proposal to slash the fine for drivers turning right at a red light without stopping. This move seems particularly heartless considering California's streak of leading the country in traffic fatalities, nearly a quarter of which were pedestrians. Failure to yield is one of the top five causes of traffic crashes.
January 28, 2016