TEA-21 Reauthorization Backed by a United California Delegation at Transportation Roundtable with CSAC -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin -- Volume 10, Bulletin 5 -- March 6, 2003

Voicing their support for the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21), members of the California Congressional Delegation welcomed members of the California State Association of Counties at the TEA-21 Reauthorization Roundtable discussion held this Wednesday, March, 5, 2003. During introductory remarks, Co-Chairs of the Delegation David Dreier (San Dimas) and Sam Farr (Carmel) asserted that "there is no doubt that transportation is a key component to maintaining and growing a vibrant economy", and emphasized the importance of successful federal, state, local, and tribal government partnerships to accomplish California's transportation goals. Reps. Diane Watson (Los Angeles), Bob Filner (San Diego), Michael Honda (San Jose), Jane Harman (Rolling Hills), and Mike Thompson (St. Helena) were among those attending the Roundtable discussion.

A panel of experts from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Caltrans, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and California transportation leaders led a discussion on reauthorization of the nation's surface transportation programs. Jeff Shane, Under Secretary for Transportation Policy, related that the centerpiece of the administration's agenda this year with respect to transportation will be addressing safety and movement of freight issues using "innovative financing" and private resources, mainly in an effort to reduce the high number of fatalities on the nation's highways.

Similar to the administration's agenda, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's focus this year, according to Jim Tymon and Ken House, the Majority and Minority Staff for the Committee, will be preserving guaranteed funding to the states, maintaining "firewalls" established in TEA-21, and retaining the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority (RABA) mechanism, which guarantees that expenditures are linked to receipts. In addition, both Tymon and House indicated that the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ), which provides flexible federal funds for projects and programs that reduce transportation-related pollutant emissions and boost air quality, and is of a particular interest to California, will most likely be funded and enhanced during the TEA-21 reauthorization process.

California State Association of Counties, County Engineers Association of California, and the California League of Cities also presented members of the California Congressional Delegation with recommendations on reauthorization of TEA-21. These three associations, which jointly represent 58 counties and 477 cities in the state, advocate protection and enhancement of transportation expenditures, including retaining the RABA mechanism and maintaining the funding levels and "firewalls" established in TEA-21. Also, the associations recommend retaining the TEA-21 program structure, protecting the public investment, and streamlining the regulatory and project delivery process. The majority staff commented, however, that committee leadership are questioning the efficiency of the CMAQ program and may make substantive changes to the program. California receives more than 21 percent of CMAQ funding, and it the program is the only one of the major highway formulas for which California is not a donor state.

Others briefing the CSAC representatives during their visit were David Kim, who handles transportation issues for the Washington Office of Governor Gray Davis, as well as Tim Ransdell, Executive Director of the California Institute.

As outlined in last week's Bulletin, the California Institute and the Public Policy Institute of California recently released a major report on California's relationship with federal highway programs and the formulas that govern their funding apportionment among states. For more information, refer to http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=172 .

To expand communications between Washington and California, the California Institute provides periodic faxed bulletins regarding current activity on Capitol Hill which directly impacts our state. Bulletins are published weekly during sessions of Congress, and occasionally during other periods. The e-mail edition is made possible in part by in kind donations from Sun Microsystems and IBM Corp.

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