Sacramento lawmakers overseeing a state budget that provides billions of dollars to transit agencies are attaching strings to funding for LA Metro’s future rail projects and are requiring approval of train, bus and micro-transit operations as a condition of receiving basic funds.
LA Metro’s government relations staff views the new hoops the county’s independent transit agency must jump through as a first-ever power grab that jeopardizes the agency’s self-governance.
“Metro staff believes this is an unprecedented intrusion by the state that removes the board’s control over its budget and how it operates our transit system,” concluded a staff analysis presented Thursday, July 20 to the agency’s Executive Management Committee.
New regulations were included in Senate Bill 125, a transportation budget trailer bill that provides funding to transit agencies throughout the state. It was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 10.
While the state budget of $310.8 billion includes $5.1 billion in emergency relief for transit agencies throughout the state, the added legislation creates new regulations that would prevent that money from reaching transit agencies without further state approvals.
“They also adopted a trailer bill that will significantly disrupt decision-making on transportation in the state, and specifically here in Los Angeles County,” said Michael Turner, director of Metro government relations, during the Thursday committee meeting.
The new transportation funding law would add requirements to receive capital funding for two not-yet-completed light-rail lines — the Gold Line (now A Line) foothill extension to Montclair, and the West Santa Ana Branch light-rail proposed from L.A. to Artesia.
With strings attached to state funding, it is possible that these projects will miss another year in the funding cycle. Both were denied funding in January, when the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) skipped over the two…
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