Setting the Record Straight on Transportation Funding in the California Budget

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Market St. at Sutter, San Francisco, public transportation wagons, May 1906, from the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

From the Office of the Speaker of the California State Assembly

There have been recent stories in the press shining light on the fact that the budget that passed the Legislature relies on nearly $1.3 billion from public transit funds to help balance the General Fund budget and build the reserve.

No Democrats are happy about this and it does not reflect the values of California Democrats that believe public transit plays and integral role in the lives of working Californians and will play a key role as the state reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

But, the public transit budget is actually better than what has been reported and much better than what the Governor and the Republican Legislators wanted. This, despite the disproportionate power of rightwing Republican Legislators that would rather round up every bus and commuter train in the state to sell on E-bay to finance tax cuts for rich people to purchase more gas-guzzling SUVs.

On the three key areas of public transit that were under threat by the Governor and Republican Legislators – local operations, STIP transit projects, and Proposition 1B transit – the budget passed by the Legislature was significantly better than what the Governor proposed and what the Republicans wanted.

Local Transit Operations

The Governor proposed funding local operations from state funds at around $200 million and to permanently eliminate "spillover" funds for local transit operations.

The budget that passed the Legislature doubles the proposed amount to $416 million. More importantly, the budget preserves "spillover" funds for local transit operations on a permanent basis ensuring that state support continues to grow year after year.

The following chart illustrates the historic state support for local transit operations and compares what the Governor proposed to what passed the Legislature for the next three years. Democrats should get credit for nearly doubling state support for local transit operation on an on-going basis.