State Capitol Updates
Streetsblog California
Legislative Update: Student Transit Passes, ATP, Equity in Climate Policies
This week in Sacramento, policy committees are rushing through a last-minute load of bills. The July recess is looming, and this week is the last opportunity to pass bills in the 2015-16 session. That has led to limited public discussion in some committees, with committee chairs admonishing attendees to keep remarks short. Meanwhile amendments are being proposed, revised, and refined behind the scenes.
June 29, 2016
CA Legislative Update: ATP, Bikes, and Budget
California budget negotiations have moved into high gear with the naming of Senate and Assembly members to the bicameral budget conference committee. Leaders of the two bodies named five members each—up from three in previous years—and the conference committee held its first hearing this morning. The committee's job is to find agreement among the three competing state budget proposals before June 15, when it must submit a final version to both houses to be voted on. The final budget agreement must be signed by the governor by the end of the month.
June 1, 2016
U.C. Institute For Transportation Studies Vies For Increased State Funding
California’s 2016 budget may include additional funding for sustainable transportation research, education, and outreach. The California Assembly’s proposed budget includes a $3 million increase for the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies. The funding increase was shepherded through the budget subcommittee by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, a SBCA Streetsie award winner. The budget item will now be considered by a conference committee.
May 31, 2016
Governor’s Budget Revision: Nothing New for Transportation
Governor Brown issued his May revision of the state budget proposal, and in terms of transportation, it's pretty much the same story we told in January. That is, he proposes a variety of new revenues, including a “road improvement charge” and higher gas taxes, to fix California's transportation infrastructure.
May 13, 2016
Beall Proposal Tries To End California Transportation Funding Stalemate
Last year, Governor Brown called a “Special Session” to prod the California legislature to find solutions to what seemed an intractable problem: how to fund transportation needs in the state. Some bills were introduced, some hearings were held, but the biggest result of all the ballyhoo is a confirmation that the problem is, indeed, intractable.
April 28, 2016
California Legislative Update: Bikes, Transit, Environmental Justice, More
Today is the deadline to pass any policy bills that have a fiscal impact out of all California legislative committees, so the last two weeks have seen a flurry of long hearings. Here's a quick recap of pertinent bills.
April 22, 2016
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