Transportation: financing: federal highway grant anticipation notes.

Existing law continuously appropriates the amounts specified in the annual Budget Act as having been deposited in the State Highway Account from federal transportation funds, and pledged by the California Transportation Commission, to the Treasurer for the purposes of issuing federal highway grant anticipation notes, commonly known as GARVEE bonds, to fund transportation projects selected by the commission. Existing law defines an "eligible project" for these purposes as the federally funded portion of a highway or other transportation project that has been designated for accelerated construction by the commission, and increases the capacity, reduces the travel time, or provides long-life rehabilitation of the key bridges and roadways of a corridor or gateway for interregional travel and movement of goods. Existing law prohibits the Treasurer from authorizing the issuance of the notes if the annual repayment obligations of all outstanding notes in any fiscal year would exceed 15% of the total amount of federal transportation funds deposited in the account for any consecutive 12-month period within the preceding 24 months. This bill would provide that an "eligible project" may include projects programmed by a regional transportation planning agency using its share of apportionments of federal regional surface transportation program funds or congestion mitigation and air quality funds, as specified. The bill would authorize no more than 50% of bonding capacity of GARVEE bonds from being made available for these projects and would require the commission to require a regional transportation planning agency to commit to repaying the state for debt service if that agency's share of federal regional surface transportation program funds or federal congestion mitigation and air quality funds is insufficient to repay the GARVEE bonds or if a portion of the project costs is ineligible for federal funding. The bill would, for such a repayment by a regional transportation planning agency, authorize the commission to amend into the State Transportation Improvement Program some or all of the funds necessary for the repayment to be counted against the county share of State Transportation Improvement Program funds for the county in which the project is located. By expanding the types of projects for which GARVEE bonds may be used, the bill would make an appropriation.