Bill Text: CA AB1350 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1350 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Retroactive grant of high school diplomas: COVID-19 crisis.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-09-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 66, Statutes of 2020. [AB1350 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1350-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1350

Introduced by Assembly Member Gonzalez

February 22, 2019

An act to add Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 99100) to Part 11 of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1350, as amended, Gonzalez. Youth Transit Pass ~~program.~~ Pilot Program.

Existing law declares that the fostering, continuance, and development of public transportation systems are a matter of state concern. Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to administer various programs and allocates moneys for various public transportation purposes.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would create a Youth Transit Pass program for purposes of creating lifelong transit riders and reducing greenhouse gas emissions
This bill would create the Youth Transit Pass Pilot Program upon the appropriation of moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund by the Legislature, and would require the department to administer the program. The bill would require the department to award available moneys to eligible participants, as defined, to provide free transit passes to persons under the age of 25 through new or existing transit pass programs, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop guidelines that describe the application process, selection criteria, performance measures, and reporting requirements that evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The bill would require the department to submit a report to specified committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2022, on the outcomes of the program and the status of transit pass programs statewide.
The bill would repeal its provisions as of January 1, 2024.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES 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) Global climate change poses a serious threat to the economic well-being, public health, natural resources, and the environment of California.
(b) Greenhouse gas emissions that have been exacerbated by human activity play a central role in accelerating adverse climate change outcomes.
(c) California laws and regulations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions address one of the most important issues of our time, and increasing the use of public transportation is a vital component in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050.
(d) In addition to contributing to California’s climate goals, public transportation systems provide an essential public service to all of the people of the state, including elderly, disabled, youth, and citizens of limited means. Providing programs that develop ridership and adoption of public transit help contribute to achieving established statewide climate goals.
(e) 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.
(f) Targeting student transit pass programs to middle school, high school, college, and university students can promote the development of lifelong transit riders and further bolster the capacity and reliability of transit systems.
(g) 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 jobs.
(h) Student transit pass programs can help the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle miles traveled, petroleum use, air pollution, and improve overall community health.
(i) Student transit pass programs can lower pollution around elementary schools, thereby improving student health.
(j) Schools are often a major generator of traffic in cities, and student transit pass programs can help reduce the traffic and parking problems in neighborhoods around schools.
(k) 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.
(l) Student transit pass programs have decreased the necessity of, and costs associated with, driving to and from school, thereby reducing the overall cost of school attendance and the parental burdens on working families.
(m) A University of California at 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.

Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 99100) is added to Part 11 of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

CHAPTER 2. Youth Transit Pass Pilot Program
99100.
(a) Upon the appropriation of moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund by the Legislature, the Youth Transit Pass Pilot Program is hereby created, to be administered by the department.
(b) The department shall administer the program to provide free transit passes, directly or through a third party, including a transit agency, to any person under the age of 25.
99101.
As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(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) “Program” means the Youth Transit Pass Pilot Program created pursuant to this chapter.
99102.
(a) Moneys allocated for the program shall be expended to provide free transit passes to individuals as specified in Section 99100, by supporting new, or expanding existing, transit pass programs.
(b) (1) The department shall develop guidelines that describe the application process and selection criteria for awarding the moneys made available for the program.
(2) 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 those guidelines.
(3) 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.
(c) (1) Moneys awarded to an eligible participant shall be available for expenditure by the eligible participant for two years from the date upon which it receives those moneys.
(2) The minimum amount the department shall award to a selected eligible participant is twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).
(3) The maximum amount the department shall award to a selected eligible participant is five million dollars ($5,000,000).
(d) The department shall develop performance measures and reporting requirements to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
99103.
(a) On or before January 1, 2022, the department shall submit a report on the outcomes of the program and the status of transit pass programs statewide to the fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature that oversee transportation programs.
(b) The report shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The number of free transit passes provided to persons under the age of 25.
(2) Whether, over the lifetime of the program, the program increased transit ridership among users under the age of 25.
(3) An assessment of how many transit operators and schools statewide have a transit pass program.
(4) An assessment of how many transit operators and schools statewide do not have a transit pass program.
(5) Recommendations to expand transit pass programs to ensure that all persons under the age of 25 statewide have access to a transit pass program.
(c) The report required to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
99104.
The requirements of this chapter shall become effective only upon the appropriation of funding as described in subdivision (a) of Section 99100.
99105.
This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2024, and as of that date is repealed.

SECTION 1.
~~It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would create a Youth Transit Pass program for purposes of creating lifelong transit riders and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.~~