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priorities other than those allowable pursuant to the program if the city’s or county’s average Pavement Condition Index meets or exceeds 80.
(2) Existing law creates the Department of Transportation within the Transportation Agency.
This bill would create the Independent Office of Audits and Investigations within the department, with specified powers and duties. The bill would provide for the Governor to appoint the director of the office for a 6-year term, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and would provide that the director, who would be known as the Inspector General, may not be removed from office during the term except for good cause. The bill would specify the duties and responsibilities of the Inspector General with respect to the department and local agencies receiving state and federal transportation funds through the department, and would require an annual report to the Legislature and Governor.
This bill would require the department to update the Highway Design Manual to incorporate the “complete streets” design concept by January 1, 2018. The bill would require the department to develop a plan by January 1, 2020, to increase by up to 100% the dollar value of contracts awarded to small businesses, disadvantaged business enterprises, and disabled veteran business enterprises, as specified.
(3) Existing law provides for loans of revenues from various transportation funds and accounts to the General Fund, with various repayment dates specified.
This bill would identify the amount of outstanding loans from certain transportation funds as $706,000,000. The bill would require the Department of Finance to prepare a loan repayment schedule and would require the outstanding loans to be repaid pursuant to that schedule, as prescribed. The bill would appropriate funds for that purpose from the Budget Stabilization Account. The bill would require the repaid funds to be transferred, pursuant to a specified formula, to various state and local transportation purposes.
(4) The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B) created the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund and provided for allocation by the California Transportation Commission of $2 billion in bond funds for infrastructure improvements on highway and rail corridors that have a high volume of freight movement and for specified categories of projects eligible to receive these funds.
This bill would deposit the revenues attributable to 50% of the $0.20 per gallon increase in the diesel fuel excise tax imposed by the bill into the Trade Corridor Enhancement Account, to be expended on corridor-based freight projects nominated by local agencies and the state.
(5) Article XIX of the California Constitution requires gasoline excise tax revenues from motor vehicles traveling upon public streets and highways to be deposited in the Highway Users Tax Account, for allocation to city, county, and state transportation purposes. Existing law generally provides for statutory allocation of gasoline excise tax revenues attributable to other modes of transportation, including aviation, boats, agricultural vehicles, and off-highway vehicles, to particular accounts and funds for expenditure
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