CA SB 1031

Title: San Francisco Bay area: local revenue measure: transportation improvements.
Author: Philip Y. Ting

Summary
SB 1031, as amended, Wiener. San Francisco Bay area: local revenue measure: transportation improvements. (1) Existing law creates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as a local area planning agency for the 9-county San Francisco Bay area with comprehensive regional transportation planning and other related responsibilities. Existing law creates various transit districts located in the San Francisco Bay area, with specified powers and duties relating to providing public transit services. This bill would authorize the commission to raise and allocate new revenue and incur and issue bonds and other indebtedness, as specified. In this regard, the bill would authorize the commission to impose a retail transactions and use tax, a regional payroll tax, a parcel tax, and a regional vehicle registration surcharge in all or a subset of the 9 counties of the San Francisco Bay area, in accordance with applicable constitutional requirements. The bill would require the parcel tax to be collected by counties and the other 3 taxes to be collected by specified state agencies, and would require the net revenues from those taxes to be remitted to the commission, as prescribed. The bill would require the revenue generated pursuant to these provisions to be used for transportation improvements in the San Francisco Bay area, including for various transit purposes, and would require the commission to distribute those revenues in accordance with specified requirements. By adding to the duties of local officials with respect to elections procedures for revenue measures on behalf of the commission, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, consisting of various state agencies under the supervision of an executive officer known as the Secretary of Transportation, who is required to develop and report to the Governor on legislative, budgetary, and administrative programs to accomplish comprehensive, long-range, and coordinated planning and policy formulation in the matters of public interest related to the agency. This bill would require the Transportation Agency to select a transportation institute, as defined, to conduct an assessment that analyzes the benefits and disbenefits to riders, and the administrative, financial, legal, contractual, and governance feasibility, of various forms of consolidation, as defined, among transit agencies, as defined, that are located in the 9-county San Francisco Bay area. The bill would require that assessment to be completed on or before January 1, 2026, and would require, as part of that assessment, the transportation institute to identify specified information about each transit agency and to consider certain topics relating to consolidation. Based on the findings of the assessment, the bill would require the Transportation Agency, on or before January 1, 2027, to develop a report of recommendations that, among other things, identifies opportunities to consolidate 2 or more agencies and provides specific recommendations for the consolidation or elimination of transit agencies and their governing bodies without resulting in the elimination of programs and transportation services, as specified. The bill would establish the Bay Area Transit Consolidation and Coordination Technical Assistance Fund in the State Treasury for the deposit of moneys that can be used for specified purposes, including paying for the cost of conducting the assessment and preparing the report, as specified. The bill would require the assessment and the report to be submitted to the Legislature upon completion. (3) Existing law requires the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to adopt rules and regulations to promote the coordination of fares and schedules for all public transit systems within its jurisdiction, as specified.This bill would revise and recast this provision by, among other things, providing that the commission is responsible for implementing a seamless

Status
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

Bill Documents
CA SB 1031 - 04/16/24 - Amended Senate
04/16/24 - CA SB 1031 (04/16/24 - Amended Senate)