3010 Wilshire Blvd. #362, Los Angeles, CA 90010
213.388.2364

Southern California Transit Advocates is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, development and improvement of public transportation in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

SO.CA.TA opposes Governor's proposal to shift public transportation funding

SO.CA.TA position statement opposing the Governor's proposed addition of inappropriate programs to the State Public Transportation Account (PTA) and the Assembly's proposal to permanently divert a major portion of the gasoline tax "spillover" away from the PTA.

This statement was sent to the Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittees on Transportation, the joint Senate-Assembly Budget Conference Committee, the leadership of the Senate and Assembly, and Governor Schwarzenegger and was also released to the media.


Southern California Transit Advocates opposes the Governor's proposals to fund school bus service and repayment of bond obligations from the Public Transportation Account.

The Governor's calling school buses public transit does not make it so. When the general public is allowed to pay a fare and ride school buses, then -- and only then -- would his assertions be true. We agree with the Legislative Analyst's statement that this proposal is "legally unworkable" and note that Legislative Counsel has also agreed with this conclusion.

We also point out that while the bond obligations that the Governor proposes to fund from the Public Transportation Account are transportation-related, the voters who approved those bonds specifically approved their repayment from the General Fund, and thus the Governor is ignoring the will of the voting public in making this proposal.

While it is true that Proposition 1B will provide additional funding for public transportation projects, that was approved by the voters as additional funding, not as a backfill to replace reallocated funding. Again, the Governor is defying the voters' intent in redefining this funds to suit his own purposes. Further, Proposition 1B specifically funds capital projects, while the funds proposed to be shifted to these other needs are the only state funds that can be used for the operation of public transit service.

Our additional concern is the Assembly's proposal to permanently redirect half of future gasoline tax spillover to general fund purposes, while leaving the remainder unprotected from future raids. We find this proposal totally unacceptable; the passage of the original Proposition 42 and of the more recent Proposition 1A clearly indicate the voters' intent to protect spillover revenues for transportation purposes.

We urge the Legislature and the Governor to fully fund public transit and to work toward a long-term solution to protect and expand public transit funding in future years.