California Assembly Bill AB2703 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2703AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 17, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member John A. Perez FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act to add  Section 8879.79 to the Government   Chapter 20.1 (commencing with Section 2704.30) to Division 3 of the Streets and Highways  Code, relating to transportation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2703, as amended, John A. Perez.  Federal transportation economic stimulus funds: 2nd round.   Transportation: bond-funded projects: letter of no prejudice.   Existing law, the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and related purposes, including $950 million to be allocated by the California Transportation Commission to eligible recipients for capital improvements to intercity and commuter rail lines and urban rail transit systems in connection with or otherwise related to the high-speed train system.   Existing law, with respect to the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, a $19.925 billion general obligation bond act for transportation and related purposes, authorizes a regional or local agency to apply for a letter of no prejudice that makes that agency eligible to expend funds under its control for a project or project component that has been designated to receive bond funding and to be subsequently reimbursed from bond funds for that expenditure when bond funds become available.   This bill would allow an eligible regional or local agency to also apply to the California Transportation Commission for a letter of no prejudice relating to projects to be funded under the $950 million allocated to eligible regional or local agencies under the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. The bill would authorize the commission to develop guidelines to implement these provisions.   Existing law establishes special procedures and formulas for allocation and expenditure of federal transportation economic stimulus funds awarded to the state in 2009. Under these provisions, the Department of Transportation, with the approval of the Department of Finance, may make a loan or loans from a specified portion of those federal funds for the purpose of advancing projects meeting certain criteria that otherwise would be funded from the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, a general obligation bond measure approved by the voters in November 2006 as Proposition 1B.   This bill would provide similar authority to advance those projects with loans of federal funds awarded to the state in 2010 under the 2nd round of federal transportation economic stimulus funds. In order to be eligible for an advance, a project would need to have been programmed for Proposition 1B bond funds by May 1, 2010, and be ready to be awarded within 90 days of federal apportionment. Upon repayment of the loans, these funds would be available for appropriation by the Legislature for the State Highway Operation and Protection Program.  This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Chapter 20.1 (commencing with Section 2704.30) is added to Division 3 of the   Streets and Highways Code   , to read:   CHAPTER 20.1. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SAFE, RELIABLE HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER TRAIN BOND ACT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY 2704.30. (a) An eligible recipient for funds pursuant to Section 2704.095 that is a regional or local agency may apply to the California Transportation Commission for a letter of no prejudice for a project or a component of a project to be undertaken with those funds. The commission may approve the letter of no prejudice for one or more projects or project components that the commission has programmed or otherwise approved for funding. The letter of no prejudice shall reference the project or component thereof and the amount of bond funding that is programmed or otherwise approved for that project or project component. The commission may approve a letter of no prejudice regardless of whether bond funding has been previously appropriated for purposes of the project or project component. (b) Expenditures for the costs, up to the amount set forth in the letter of no prejudice, of a project or project component for which a letter of no prejudice has been issued shall be eligible for reimbursement from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund if all of the following apply: (1) The project or project component for which the letter of no prejudice was requested has commenced and the regional or local expenditures have been incurred. (2) The expenditures made by the regional or local agency are eligible for reimbursement in accordance with state and federal laws and procedures, and are permitted expenditures under Section 2704.095. If expenditures made are determined to be ineligible, then the state has no obligation to reimburse for those expenditures. (3) The regional or local agency complies with all legal requirements for the project, including the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code). (4) The expenditures were incurred after the project or project component was programmed or otherwise approved for funding by the commission. (5) There is in the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund an appropriated amount sufficient to make the reimbursement payment. Nothing in this section requires the fund to be funded at any particular time or in any particular amount. (c) The California Transportation Commission and the regional or local agency may enter into an agreement or agreements governing reimbursement as described in this section. (d) The California Transportation Commission, in consultation with regional and local agencies, may develop guidelines to implement this section. If the commission develops guidelines, it shall, to the extent practicable, use the guidelines developed for letters of no prejudice under Section 8879.501 of the Government Code. (e) Nothing in this section modifies any requirement under Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 2704). (f) For the purposes of this section, "letter of no prejudice" means an agreement between a regional or local agency and the California Transportation Commission that makes eligible for future reimbursement from bond proceeds the expenditure of funds under the control of the regional or local agency, subject to the availability of bond funds, as provided in this section. The timing and final amount of reimbursement is dependent on the terms of the agreement and the availability of bond funds. The final amount of reimbursement may be less than the amount stated in the letter of no prejudice.   SECTION 1.   Section 8879.79 is added to the Government Code, to read: 8879.79. (a) The department, with the approval of the Director of Finance, may make a loan or loans from the State Highway Account of federal funds made available to it pursuant to the second round of federal transportation economic stimulus funds awarded to the state in 2010, for purposes of advancing a project, or a portion of a project, that has been programmed, on or before May 1, 2010, to be funded by Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20) and that is ready to be awarded within 90 days of federal apportionment. The board, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 8879.22, may request the department to make a loan or loans. The aggregate amount of the request shall not exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that the committee, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 8879.22, has, by resolution, authorized to be sold, less any amount loaned pursuant to Section 8879.31 or 8879.77 or withdrawn pursuant to Section 8879.32. Any amount loaned shall be deposited in the fund, as defined by subdivision (c) of Section 8879.22, and shall be transferred to the appropriate account for the project, or portion of a project, being advanced. The loan or loans shall be repaid without interest to the State Highway Account from the proceeds of bonds sold pursuant to Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20). The board shall execute any documents as required by the department to obtain and repay the loan or loans. (b) Upon repayment of a loan made pursuant to subdivision (a), those funds shall be available for appropriation by the Legislature for the State Highway Operation and Protection Program.  SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to  ensure that federal funds received in 2010 are expeditiously awarded to transportation projects   allow bond-funded transportation projects to proceed as expeditiously as possible , and to benefit job retention in California, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.