AB 351

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law imposes weight fees on the registration of commercial motor vehicles and provides for the deposit of net weight fee revenues into the State Highway Account. Existing law provides for the transfer of certain weight fee revenues from the State Highway Account to the Transportation Debt Service Fund to reimburse the General Fund for payment of debt service on general obligation bonds issued for transportation purposes. Existing law also provides for the transfer of certain weight fee revenues to the transportation Bond Direct Payment Account for direct payment of debt service on designated bonds, which are defined to be certain transportation general obligation bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 1B of 2006. Existing law also provides for loans of weight fee revenues to the General Fund to the extent the revenues are not needed for bond debt service purposes, with the loans to be repaid when the revenues are later needed for those purposes, as specified. This bill would repeal these provisions, thereby retaining the weight fee revenues in the State Highway Account. The bill would make other conforming changes in that regard. (2) Existing law provides for the deposit of fuel excise tax revenues imposed by the state on fuels used in motor vehicles upon public streets and highways in the Highway Users Tax Account, and appropriates those revenues to various purposes. Existing law, with respect to the portion of these revenues that is derived from increases in the motor vehicle fuel excise tax in 2010, requires an allocation of revenues to reimburse the State Highway Account for the amount of weight fee revenues that the State Highway Account is not receiving due to use of weight fee revenues to pay debt service on transportation general obligation bonds and to make certain loans to the General Fund, with the remaining amount of this portion of revenues allocated 44% to the State Transportation Improvement Program, 12% to the State Highway Operation and Protection Program, and 44% to city and county streets and roads. This bill would delete the provisions relating to the reimbursement of the State Highway Account for weight fee revenues and relating to the making of loans to the General Fund, thereby providing for the portion of fuel excise tax revenues that is derived from increases in the motor vehicle fuel excise tax in 2010 to be allocated 44% to the State Transportation Improvement Program, 12% to the State Highway Operation and Protection Program, and 44% to city and county streets and roads. The bill would thereby make an appropriation. (3) Existing law requires certain revenues deposited in the State Highway Account that are not restricted as to expenditure by Article XIX of the California Constitution to be transferred to the Transportation Debt Service Fund in the State Transportation Fund, as specified, and continuously appropriates these funds for payment of current year debt service on certain mass transportation bonds. This bill would delete the requirement to transfer these revenues to the Transportation Debt Service Fund, thereby providing for these revenues to be used for any transportation purpose authorized by statute, upon appropriation by the Legislature.