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To the Vanguard News Home page BILL NUMBER: SB 1420 CHAPTERED 09/24/96 as CHAPTER 796
INTRODUCED BY Senators Kopp and Costa JANUARY 23, 1996
SB 1420 Date of Hearing: 7/10/96 by the ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Charles Poochigian, Chair
Establishes a High-Speed Rail Authority.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Establishes a nine-member High-Speed Rail Authority with five members appointed by the Governor and two each by the Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly. The authority may appoint an executive director who would have the authority to appoint necessary professional staff.
2) Requires the authority to develop and implement high speed rail service that interconnects with existing intercity rail and bus services and prepare and submit to the Governor and Legislature, for legislative or voter approval, a plan for construction and operation of a high-speed train network consistent with the work of the Intercity High-Speed Rail Commission as authorized by SCR 6/93.
3) Authorizes the authority to conduct engineering and other project development studies, select an appropriate high-speed rail system, establish criteria for the award of a franchise, accept funds from public and private sources, select a franchisee, select proposed route and terminal sites, enter into contracts for plan preparation prepare a financing plan, and submit a financial plan for placement on the ballot in November 1998 or November 2000.
4) Authorizes the authority, upon receiving either legislative or voter approval, to contract for design, construction and operation of a high-speed rail network, and to take associated implementation steps (issue debt, acquire right of way, set fares and schedules, etc.).
1) The existing highspeed rail commission established pursuant to SCR 6 is costing the state over $332,000 per year and is funded through the Department of Transportation budget. Because this bill does not specify a fund source, it could be funded from the State General Fund at a cost of at least $332,000 annually.
1) SCR 6 (Kopp) of 1993 created the High-Speed Rail Commission and directed the commission to prepare a 20-year high-speed rail plan for California. The commission is in the process of completing its work and its final report is expected to be adopted by the end of the year. This bill is intended to build on the efforts of the Commission and allow the process to go forward to a point where either the Legislature or the voters will be asked to authorize a fully-developed plan for the construction and operation of high-speed rail in California.
2) Preliminary estimates reveal that a high-speed rail system is likely to cost in the neighborhood of $15 billion. Financing options would include massive tax increases to fund such a venture. Improvements to existing highway, rail, and transit systems would have a much higher payoff than would high-speed rail in terms of alleviating traffic congestion and associated transportation problems. Furthermore, at a time when the state can't even find enough transportation funds to pay for the seismic retrofit of the states toll bridges ($2 billion), it is unrealistic to think that $15 billion in highspeed rail improvement funds would be available in the foreseeable future.
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