TransForm takes positions on certain important pieces of legislation related to transportation and land use. Please fill out this form if you'd like to request TransForm take a position.
TransForm continues to engage diverse stakeholders — environmental, equity, health and other advocates as well as transit agencies, labor, and business — regarding which state transportation funding reforms we should collectively prioritize.
There is significant general agreement on the importance of securing as much new state-level funding as possible as soon as possible — with a strong focus on transit, bike and pedestrian investments and also improved road, highway and bridge maintenance.
TransForm is focused on helping to build and support a statewide movement that can sustain coordination over a period of many years to push through major funding reforms.
The most likely path to increased transit funding this year and next is through the new Cap and Trade program being developed by the Air Resources Board with guidance and input from the legislature and governor.
The initial estimate coming out of the Governor’s budget proposal is that Cap and Trade could bring in $1 billion even the first year (other estimates are lower, perhaps only in the hundreds of millions the first year). Over time, the program should generate many billions of dollars each year as the program is expanded and emissions allowances sold by the state become more expensive.
In his budget, Governor Brown proposes allocating cap-and-trade revenues to: clean and efficient energy programs; natural resource protection; low-carbon transportation, including transit; and sustainable infrastructure development, including transportation and housing.
TransForm applauds the governor's proposal. We have been engaging our allies and other stakeholders as well as key legislative offices to ensure that our priorities are front and center as the legislature and governor flesh out and refine the cap and trade revenue allocations.
TransForm and Housing California have developed and are promoting a proposal to allocate a significant portion of Cap and Trade revenue to transit (capital and operations) and co-located affordable transit-oriented housing. These investments offer tremendous opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while delivering huge cost savings to struggling families and neighborhoods.
AB 1532 (Speaker Perez) and SB 1572 (Senator Pavley) appear to offer the best chances of incorporating our proposal into the ultimate plan for allocating the Cap and Trade revenue. We are working closely with those offices and the other key legislators.
Click HERE to read our proposal for cap-and-trade revenue spending.
This bill, sponsored by BART, will make it easier for cities and counties to support and for developers to build the right kinds of transit-oriented development (TOD) in areas surrounding transit stations by easing the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) via Infrastructure Financing Districts (IFDs). This concept has been called “TIF for TOD.”
Under AB 485, local elected leaders would be authorized to form an IFD and approve the issuance of
bonds. Requirements are put in place by AB 485 to prevent misuse of funds and to ensure that TIF used in this manner funds only truly equitable and sustainable TOD.
At least 20% of all revenue would be required to be used to increase, improve, and preserve the supply
of homes affordable to people with low incomes available in the district. There would be a 55 year
covenant for new housing and a 45 year covenant for existing. Additionally, AB 485 requires that the
relevant transit village plan must include a plan for increasing the supply of affordable homes.
IFDs can not pay for maintenance, repairs, operating costs or services, and the available funding only
comes from the non-school portion of property tax revenue increases. Given the loss of several billion
dollars in Redevelopment funding at the beginning of this year, we need new tools such as the one
contained in AB 485 to allow local governments to access tax increment financing to support TOD.
AB 441 incorporates health criteria in state guidance on regional transportation planning by authorizing the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to include voluntary health and health equity considerations in the guidelines issued to regional agencies regarding the preparation of Regional Transportation Plans.
Inclusion of health issues in transportation plans is a valuable tool for ensuring transportation investments are made in ways that maximize benefits to society while minimizing costs. Decisions about transportation have an enormous impact on health outcomes and can exacerbate or ameliorate the prevalence of conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, diabetes, obesity, depression, unintended injuries, and some cancers.
Considering health and equity when doing transportation planning is one of the best ways to facilitate
infrastructure investments that are not only healthier but more economically and environmentally
sustainable. AB 441 will support the expansion of strategies and the spread of best practices that create places that are safer for walking, biking and breathing.
This bill gives LA Metro the authority to put before LA County voters an extension of the Measure R sales tax,
thereby allowing LA Metro to bond against a longer revenue stream and accelerate construction of Measure R projects that will provide an estimated 500,000 jobs.
An estimated 580,000 people are unemployed in LA County and an estimated 40 percent of construction workers are jobless. Moreover, the county needs the Measure R investment in public transportation to ease the traffic congestion that constrains our economic competitiveness, worsens our air pollution, and threatens our quality of life.
Given the ongoing delays in Congress at the federal level, it is essential to provide LA County voters with an option for moving forward now, at a time when jobs are needed the most. AB 1446 will put people back to work and provide everybody in LA County with greatly expanded real, affordable, reliable transportation choices.
SB 1339 will save commuters up to 40% on commuting costs and reduce by nearly 9% employers' payroll tax burden -- all while easing traffic congestion and pollution.
This bill authorizes a pilot program through 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area that allows the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
(Air District) to jointly adopt an ordinance requiring employers with 50 or more full-time employees to
offer certain employees one of the following commute benefits:
1. A program that facilitates employees withholding commute costs from taxable wages, as long as those costs are incurred for transit or vanpool charges or for bicycle commuting, as allowed by federal law.
2. A subsidy to offset the monthly cost of commuting by transit or vanpool, not to exceed $75/month, and adjusted annually based on the California consumer price index.
3. Transportation provided directly by the employer at little or no cost to the employee through a vanpool or bus operated by or for the employer.
MTC and the Air District must specify the following when adopting the ordinance: (1) how the district or commission will inform affected employers of the requirements; (2) how employers can demonstrate compliance; and (3) any consequences for noncompliance.
The bill will also: bolster transit ridership and lead to improved fare-box recovery for transit agencies;
enhance employee attraction and retention in areas struggling with traffic congestion; support a more
efficient use of existing infrastructure; and reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions as
commuters switch from single-occupant driving to other modes.
While California’s economy is still in the early stages of recovery and our state struggles to close the budget deficit, SB 1339 will lower the costs of commuting and advance numerous California policy goals without raising taxes or imposing new burdens on business.
For the most up-to-date information on the status of these bills go to http://legislature.ca.gov/
Have questions? Contact Graham Brownstein, State Policy Director.
Want to submit a piece of legislation for TransForm to take a position on? Fill out the request form.