BUDGET
PLAN SPELLS TROUBLE FOR TRANSIT
Faced
with the biggest budget shortfall in the nation, Gov. Gray Davis and the
legislature continue to hammer out painful compromises including
dramatic spending cuts and tax increases in order to cover an estimated $34.6
billion deficit in the current and upcoming fiscal years. The impending
spending cuts will likely result in indefinite delays, or even
cancellation, for many projects designed to expand public transit
networks and ease traffic congestion on California’s roadways.
Davis’ budget proposal would cut more than $1.8 billion in previously
planned transportation funding over the next 18 months. The governor has
also proposed suspending Proposition 42, approved by voters last
year that earmarks sales taxes on gasoline for transportation projects.
If Proposition 42 is suspended, the State Transit Assistance program (STA)
would lose about $40 million in 2003-2004. Transit
agencies have come to rely on funds provided through Proposition 42 to
cover operating costs.
Additionally,
Davis’ budget proposal calls for $100 million to be shifted from the
Transportation Congestion Relief Fund (TCRF) to the state’s General
Fund in the current (2002-2003) fiscal year, and he has proposed
canceling or deferring a $500 million loan from the General Fund to the
TCRF for 2003-2004. More than 60 percent of the funds in the TCRF flow to transit, and many of these projects
are now in jeopardy.
To help close the
budget gap, the Governor has also proposed a one-cent increase in the state sales tax. The plan
has raised concerns among local transit officials and other
transportation planners, who worry that hiking the state sales tax will
make it harder for counties to pass or renew transportation sales taxes,
an important source of money for highway and transit projects.
At the same
time, Davis
has opposed efforts by Democrats in the Legislature to restore vehicle
license fees to 1998 levels, a move that could increase
VLF revenues by about $4 billion and help ward
off state spending cuts in areas like transportation. The
governor says a Democratic bill raising the VLF to previous levels would
undermine his plan to shift many state programs to local governments and
at the same time anger Republicans, whose
support he needs for a two-thirds vote to approve a new state budget.
The governor’s
proposed spending cuts would have a devastating impact on transit
projects around the state. Officials with the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) estimate that Los Angeles
County will lose at least $500 million in transit funds over the next 18
months, and up to $2.3 billion by 2009. MTA officials hope to secure
money for a few high-priority projects that are close to completion,
including the Eastside light-rail line connecting downtown and
East Los Angeles
and the Chandler Busway, a 14-mile roadway dedicated to buses in the
San Fernando Valley. But many of the agency’s
other projects are threatened with delays of at least two to three
years.
Meanwhile, funding
shortages could delay several high-profile Bay Area transit projects,
including a BART extensions from Fremont to San Jose
and from the Oakland's Network Associates Coliseum to Oakland
International
Airport. In Orange
County, officials say the cuts would take about $265 million from road and
rail projects, delaying or canceling several major projects.
BUDGET CUTS
THREATEN COMMUNITY PLANNING, ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION
Under
Gov. Davis’ budget proposal, nearly all funding (about $9 million) for
Environmental Justice (EJ) and Community Based Transportation Planning (CBTP)
grants from Caltrans would be eliminated for the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004
fiscal years. The EJ and CBTP programs have provided funding for greater
involvement in local transportation planning, as well as improvements in
transportation alternatives. These programs have funded the Coyote Creek
Trail in San Jose, the Welfare-to-Work Transportation Assistance Program in San Joaquin
County
and North Park Transit
Villages
in San Diego, among many other projects.
Davis'
budget proposal would also eliminate all funding for Caltrans'
Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program (EEMP) for the
2003-2004 fiscal year and more than half of the funds for 2002-2003. The
EEMP provides $10 million annually for mitigation projects related to
the environmental impacts of transportation projects. Over the past
decade, the EEMP has provided funding for more than 500 projects that
reduce air and noise pollution, enhance recreational opportunities and
conserve natural resources.
These
funding cuts are not finalized until the Legislature approves the
proposed Caltrans budget. A number of advocacy groups across the state
are urging Caltrans Director Jeff Morales to preserve these programs.
Talking point for a letter in support of the EJ, CBTP and EEMP programs
can be found at http://www.calbike.org/budgetalert.htm.
For
more information, contact
Laura Cohen
of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy at
lcohen@transact.org.
STATE
FUNDING
SHORTFALL INCREASES TALK OF GAS TAX INCREASE
Despite
escalating gasoline prices, the state's budget crisis and renewed
threats from Washington that federal transportation funding may not
increase have sparked new debate on whether or not to increase the
state's 18-cent per gallon gasoline tax. The state gas tax has not
been raised in 14 years, and State Senator Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) has
proposed indexing the gasoline tax to inflation, allowing incremental
rises each year based on increases in the consumer price index with the
introduction of SB541. Most state gas taxes have failed to keep pace
with inflation due to the political difficulties involved in raising the
gas tax in particular. If California's state gasoline tax had kept pace
with inflation since 1957, it would be 32.5 cents a gallon today, nearly
twice the current rate.
In
an effort to close an escalating shortfall in transportation funds, the Bay Area’s Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC) is seriously considering using a special
authority granted under state legislation to ask voters for a regional gasoline
tax in the nine county region. MTC has
the power to
ask voters for as much as a 10-cent per gallon regional gas tax hike.
According to MTC estimates, the Bay Area could raise more than $30
million a year for every penny of new gas tax.
Advocates
for transportation choice would like to see more flexibility in the way
gas tax revenues are spent, so that gas tax money could be used to fund
transit agencies’ operating expenses, by far the largest cost for
transit systems. Under current law, gas tax revenues are restricted to
construction, maintenance and other capital projects.
For
more details of the Torlakson bill (SB541), click here.
FLURRY
OF NEW BILLS INTRODUCED AS LEGISLATIVE DEADLINE PASSES
The
state’s budget crisis isn’t the only thing lawmakers are focusing on
these days. Indeed, substantive work is underway on a number of
interesting new legislative proposals that would provide funding for
programs that benefit transportation alternatives, smart growth, air
quality and public health. Some early highlights include:
Senator Richard Alarcón and
Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg are working on two bills (SCA11 and
another measure that has not yet been assigned a number) that would make
it easier to pass local measures to pay for a broad array of
transportation and other community infrastructure needs by lowering the
vote threshold for local bonds or special taxes from two-thirds to a simple
majority. For more information, contact STPP’s Charles L. Mason, Jr.
at (916) 447-8565 or cmason@transact.org.
AB531, sponsored by Assemblywoman
Christine Kehoe, would provide $10 billion in state bond funding for
investments in neighborhood infrastructure. This statewide bond measure
would provide matching grants and loans to communities for
transportation, open space, sewer, water and other infrastructure
projects. For more information, contact Adrienne Alvord, Legislative
Director for Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, at (916) 319-2266
The Petroleum Pollution Cleanup and Prevention Act of 2003 (AB
1500), sponsored by Assemblyman Manny Diaz, would provide a major source
of new revenue for pollution cleanup and mitigation programs, including
transit, bicycle, pedestrian and clean vehicle projects. The measure
would add a fee of $1 to each barrel of crude oil refined in
California, generating about $700 million
annually. For more information, contact Shannon Eddy of CEERT/Clean
Power Campaign at shannon@cleanpower.org.
STPP
will keep you posted on these and other transportation- and land
use-related proposals as they make their way through the legislative
process.
STPP
NAMES ANNE P. CANBY AS NEW PRESIDENT
STPP
is pleased to announce that Anne P. Canby will become the President of
the organization on April 1. Ms. Canby is a nationally recognized leader
in the field of transportation, having served in many senior policy
roles over more than two decades. From 1993-2000, she was the Secretary
of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DOT). At the Delaware DOT
she presided over dramatic changes, transforming a traditional highway
agency into a multimodal mobility provider, boosting public
transportation services in the state and promoting an open,
collaborative decision-making process with many new transportation
constituencies. During her career, Ms. Canby has also been a
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation,
Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and
Treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Prior
to serving as Delaware DOT Secretary, Ms. Canby lead a consulting
practice focusing on institutional and management issues with particular
emphasis on implementation of ISTEA, the federal transportation reform
law passed by Congress in 1991. For more information, contact STPP’s
James Corless
at (415) 956-7795 or jcorless@transact.org.
STPP
NAMES NEW
CALIFORNIA POLICY DIRECTOR
Charles L. Mason, Jr. has joined
STPP's California staff as State Policy Director. Based
in the organization’s Sacramento office, Charles works on STPP’s state-level policy initiatives and
legislation related to transportation and smart growth, and is also
involved in federal efforts around reauthorization of TEA-21. Prior to
joining STPP, Charles was involved in legislative advocacy, policy
analysis and research while working for Urban Habitat, the NAACP and as
a federal lobbyist for municipal governments. He has also worked in
the
Washington,
D.C.,
offices of Congressman John Conyers, Senator Barbara Boxer and
Congressman Pete Visclosky. Charles can be reached by phone at (916)
447-8565 or at cmason@transact.org.
STPP's
California Director, James Corless, has returned from Washington, DC,
and will remain involved in the national effort to reauthorize TEA-21
while resuming his responsibilities and oversight of the California
field office. In January, STPP promoted Kristi Kimball to California
Deputy Director and Trinh Nguyen to California Field Director.
