On Friday, the Transportation Conference Committee held their first hearing to examine Governor Jerry Brown’s transportation funding proposal and to hear from local transportation stakeholder groups. The committee’s deliberations started with testimony from Brian Kelly, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, who presented the Governor’s transportation proposal that calls for approximately $3.6 billion in new transportation revenues to be split evenly between state and local governments.
The Governor’s proposal also includes various reforms to the California Department of Transportation and the California Environmental Quality Act. Keely Bosler, Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Finance, and Jessica Peters, Principal Fiscal and Policy Analyst from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, both provided comments regarding the impacts of the Governor’s proposal and answered questions from members of the Transportation Conference Committee. The hearing concluded with a number of local government groups, business and labor organizations joining the call in support of new transportation revenues coupled with meaningful reforms. The Transportation Conference Committee has scheduled their next hearing on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 from 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM in Ontario, California.