Last Wednesday, January 3, the Legislature reconvened for the start of the second year of the 2023-24 legislative session. This year, Association members should expect to see a raft of budgetary, legislative, and administrative actions impacting public transit. Here’s what you should know and watch.
State Budget Deficit: As we reported in late 2023, the Legislative Analyst’s Office projects that the State of California will face a $68 billion deficit, driven in large part by revenue collection for Fiscal Year 2022-23 that is $26 billion less than the state had projected at the time of budget adoption. The LAO has highlighted a number of strategies for closing this historic deficit, including tapping $24 billion in state reserves; reducing spending on schools and community colleges by up to $17 billion; or reducing one-time expenditures by up to $10 billion. This $10 billion figure includes $2.2 billion in General Fund spending for public transit, expected to be appropriated in FY 2024-25 and that was secured by the Association, allies, and regional partners in last year’s budget agreement.
This Wednesday, January 10, Governor Newsom will present his proposed FY 2024-25 state budget. We expect his budget, developed by the state’s Department of Finance with input from state agencies and departments, will present a budget deficit that is smaller than the $68 billion deficit projected by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, but still significant. Association staff will review the Governor’s proposed budget, upon its release, and share our analysis of it through a detailed Funding Update. The release of the Governor’s proposed budget will initiate months of hearings in the Legislature’s budget committees. The Legislature has until June 15 to pass a budget.
New Legislative Leaders Takes the Reins: On June 30, Assembly Speaker-Designee Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) was sworn in as Speaker of the California State Assembly, assuming the top leadership position of the lower house from longtime Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). Late last year, we reported that Speaker Rivas announced his new leadership team and new chairs for the Assembly’s policy, budget, and fiscal committees. Over the holidays, Speaker Rivas announced the rosters for all committees. As 2024 will be Speaker Rivas’s first full year as Assembly Speaker, we expect to see some changes in the house’s priorities – already this year, Speaker Rivas has shared that his top priorities include housing, including reducing fees and bureaucratic hurdles; public safety, including addressing the unintended consequences of past reforms; and climate change, including improving land use and management.
On the heels of these changes in the lower house, Senate President pro Tempore-Elect Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) will be sworn in as President pro Tempore of the California State Senate on February 5. He will assume the role from Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). We expect the new Senate President pro Tempore to quickly name a new leadership team and possibly make changes to the Senate’s policy, budget, and fiscal committees.
Bill Introductions with Initial Focus on Transit: With the start of the legislative year comes the introduction of new legislation as well as amendments to bills introduced last year. The Legislature will have until February 16 to introduce new legislation. Given the Legislature’s focus on public transit last year, ongoing concerns about the state of our industry, and our engagement with legislators and their staff over the holiday break, we expect to see several bills introduced or amended, impacting public transit. See the Legislative Calendar, which includes the bill introduction, amendment, and committee deadlines.
As the year continues, Association staff will continue to actively track all new and amended bills on your behalf and will review all relevant bills with our State Legislative Committee to adopt positions on them, if appropriate. Consistent with this practice, the Association has already adopted an oppose position on SB 397 (Wahab), a bill that was substantially amended on January 3 to require the California State Transportation Agency to develop a plan to consolidate the transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bill will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm.
Transit Transformation Task Force: Last year, we reported that California State Transportation Agency Secretary Toks Omishakin had announced the roster for the Transit Transformation Task Force. The roster for the Task Force includes significant representation from the Association, including, but not limited to, Executive Committee Chair Sharon Cooney (San Diego Metropolitan Transportation Commission), several Executive Committee members, and me.
The Task Force held its kick-off meeting on December 19, which was focused on member introductions and stage setting for future meetings. At this meeting, CalSTA advised that the Task Force will reconvene in February and then every other month for the remainder of the year. The Task Force is charged with delivering a report to the Legislature by October 2025. CalSTA will upload the agenda and recordings of all Task Force meetings on their website.
If you have questions about the 2023-24 Legislative Session, please reach out to Legislative Advocate Matt Robinson (matt@caltransit.org), Legislative & Regulatory Advocate Alchemy Graham (alchemy@caltransit.org), or me (michael@caltransit.org).