California Transportation Agency Becomes Official
By: Dave Ackerman, AGC Legislative Advocate
2012-07-05
It's official! Following a sixty day mandatory legislative review period, on July 2, 2012, a new state transportation agency went into effect called the California Transportation Agency (CTA). As part of Governor Brown's reorganization plan the standalone transportation agency was created to focus on transportation policy. Non-transportation offices and departments within BTH were distributed to other reorganized state cabinet agencies, leaving the following departments within the CTA:
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Motor Vehicles
- California Highway Patrol
- Board of Pilot Commissioners
- Office of Traffic Safety
- High Speed Rail Authority
- California Transportation Commission (CTC)
AGC testified before the Special Committee on Reorganization, supporting the Governor’s plan, but expressed concern that the CTC should continue to be able to operate independently from a policy standpoint due to its responsibility to provide advice and recommendations to both the Governor and the Legislature. AB 1458 has been amended in the Senate to clarify that the CTC will retain its current authority and that the reorganization plan will not change the CTC’s duties or powers. This bill will provide so-called “firewall” language to clarify the role of the CTC in the new CTA structure.