BILL NUMBER: AB 2222 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Holden
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gonzalez)
( Coauthor: Senator Allen
)
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to add Part 4 (commencing with Section 75240) to Division
44 of the Public Resources Code, relating to greenhouse
gases. school transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2222, as amended, Holden. Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Fund: Transit Pass Program. Transit Pass Program: free
or reduced-fare transit passes.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the
State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based
compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for
fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from
a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, the California State University, under the
administration of the Trustees of the California State University,
and the University of California, under the administration of the
Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public
postsecondary education in this state. Each of these segments is
authorized to provide instruction and other services to the students
who attend the institutions under their respective jurisdictions.
Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district
to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school
whenever in the judgment of the board the transportation is advisable
and good reasons exist to do so.
This bill would establish the Transit Pass Program to be
administered by the Department of Transportation with moneys
from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, made
available, upon appropriation,
appropriation by the Legislature, to support transit pass
programs that provide free or reduced-fare transit passes to
specified pupils and students. The bill would require the
department, in coordination with the state board,
department to develop guidelines that describe the criteria
that eligible transit providers are required to use to make available
free or reduced-fare transit passes to eligible
participants and the methodologies that eligible participants would
use to demonstrate that the proposed expenditures will reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. participants. The bill
would exempt those guidelines from the Administrative Procedure Act.
The bill would require eligible transit providers and eligible
participants to enter into agreements for the distribution of free or
reduced-fare transit passes to students.
This bill would require that the guidelines ensure that moneys
from the program are used to expand eligibility or further reduce the
cost of a transit pass under existing programs. The bill would
require the department to develop performance measures and reporting
requirements to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, including
an annual update of the number of free or reduced-fare transit passes
distributed to pupils and students and whether the program is
increasing transit ridership among pupils and students. The bill
would set a minimum allocation of $20,000 for each eligible transit
provider and would provide for the distribution and allocation of
remaining Transit Pass Program moneys by formula to eligible transit
providers.
The bill would require, for purposes of determining an eligible
transit provider's eligibility for moneys distributed to a
transportation planning agency from the Public Transportation
Account, that free or discounted transit fare passes be calculated at
their full retail value. The bill would authorize the use
of moneys from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities
Program, the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, and other low
carbon transportation programs to augment a free or reduced-fare
transit pass program, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California landmark laws and regulations for reducing
greenhouse gases address one of the most important issues of our
time, and dramatically increasing the use of public transportation is
a vital component in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent
by the year 2050.
(b) Student transit pass programs have been shown to increase
overall transit ridership and fill empty seats on trains and buses,
resulting in reduced costs per rider and improved service because of
higher demand.
(c) Targeting student transit passes to low-income middle school,
high school, college, and university students can promote the
development of lifelong transit riders and further bolster the
capacity and reliability of our transit systems.
(d) Student transit pass programs in this state and across the
country have resulted in significant increases in transit ridership
and have made it easier and cheaper for students to get to schools
and to jobs.
(e) Student transit pass programs can help the state reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle miles traveled, petroleum use, and
air pollution and improve overall community health.
(f) Student transit passes lower pollution around elementary
schools, thereby improving student health.
(g) Schools are often the major generators of traffic in cities,
and student transit pass programs can help reduce the traffic and
parking problems in neighborhoods around schools.
(h) Student transit pass programs can reduce the need for colleges
to use campus land for expensive parking structures when this land
and money could be better used for educational purposes.
(i) Student transit pass programs have decreased the need to drive
to and from school, along with the costs associated with driving to
and from school, thereby reducing the overall cost of school
attendance and reducing parental burdens for working families.
(j) A University of California, Los Angeles, study of 35 college
and university student transit pass programs across the United States
in 2001 showed ridership increases of 71 to 200 percent after the
implementation of these programs.
SEC. 2. Part 4 (commencing with Section 75240) is added to
Division 44 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
PART 4. Transit Pass Program
75240. The Transit Pass Program is hereby created, to be
administered by the Department of Transportation. Moneys made
available for the program, upon appropriation by the
Legislature from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant
to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code,
Legislature, shall be allocated by the Controller to support
transit pass programs that provide free or reduced-fare transit
passes to any of the following:
(a) Pupils attending public middle schools or high schools that
are eligible for funding under Title I of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(b) Students attending a California community college who qualify
for a waiver of student fees pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section
76300 of the Education Code.
(c) A student who attends a campus of the California State
University or the University of California and who receives an award
under the Cal Grant Program established in Chapter 1.7 (commencing
with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the
Education Code, the federal Pell Grant Program established under
Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
1070 et seq.), or both.
75241. As used in this part, the following terms are defined as
follows:
(a) "Department" means the Department of Transportation.
(b) "Eligible participant" means a public agency, including, but
not limited to, a transit operator, school district, community
college district, the California State University, or the University
of California.
(c) "Eligible transit provider" means a transportation agency,
transportation planning agency, or county transportation commission
that is eligible to receive moneys from a state transit assistance
fund pursuant to the distribution formula in subdivision (b) or (c)
of Section 99312 of and Sections 99313 and 99314 of the Public
Utilities Code.
(d) "Program" means the Transit Pass Program established pursuant
to this part.
75242. (a) Moneys shall be allocated by the Controller consistent
with the requirements of this part and with Section 39712
of the Health and Safety Code, upon a determination by the
department that the expenditures proposed by an eligible transit
provider meet the requirements of this part and the guidelines
developed pursuant to subdivision (c), and the amount of funding
requested that is currently available.
(b) (1) Moneys allocated for the program shall be expended to
provide low- or no-cost public transit passes to students, as
specified in Section 75240, through programs that support new or
existing transit pass programs.
(2) An eligible transit provider may consider granting priority to
an application from an eligible participant with an existing,
successful transit pass program, provided that the eligible
participant can demonstrate that the additional moneys will further
reduce the cost of the transit pass or expand program eligibility.
(c) The department, in coordination with the State Air
Resources Board, department shall develop
guidelines that describe the criteria that eligible transit providers
shall use to make available free or reduced-fare transit passes to
eligible participants and the methodologies that eligible
participants shall use to demonstrate that the proposed expenditures
will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. participants.
The Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code) shall not apply to the development of the guidelines for the
program established pursuant to this part.
(1) The guidelines shall ensure that moneys from the program are
used to expand eligibility or further reduce the cost of a transit
pass under existing programs.
(2) The department shall develop performance measures and
reporting requirements to evaluate the effectiveness of the program,
including an annual update of the number of free or reduced-fare
transit passes distributed to students and whether the program is
increasing transit ridership among students.
(d) Eligible transit providers and eligible participants shall
enter into agreements pursuant to the guidelines developed pursuant
to subdivision (c) to ensure that free or reduced-fare transit passes
are distributed to students.
(e) Moneys from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities
Program (Part 1 (commencing with Section 75200)), the Low Carbon
Transit Operations Program (Part 3 (commencing with Section 75230)),
and other low carbon transportation programs may be used to augment a
free or reduced-fare transit pass program. Those moneys shall remain
subject to the requirements to benefit disadvantaged communities
consistent with the guidance provided by the State Air Resources
Board pursuant to Section 39715 of the Health and Safety Code.
75244. For the purposes of determining an eligible transit
provider's eligibility for moneys distributed to a transportation
planning agency pursuant to the distribution formula in subdivisions
(b) and (c) of Section 99312 of and Sections 99313 and 99314 of the
Public Utilities Code, free or reduced-fare transit passes made
available pursuant to the program shall be calculated at their full
retail value.
75245. (a) Each eligible transit provider shall receive twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000) from the program.
(b) After the initial twenty-thousand-dollar ($20,000) amount is
allocated, the remaining program moneys shall be allocated to
eligible transit providers pursuant to the distribution formula in
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 99312 of and Sections 99313 and
99314 of the Public Utilities Code.
(c) Any moneys allocated during a fiscal year not distributed
pursuant to subdivisions (a) or (b) shall be added to the allocation
for the following fiscal year to be distributed pursuant to this
section.