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Home My WebLink About7-29-2022 SB 932 - Oppose July 29, 2022 The Honorable Chris Holden Chair, Assembly Committee on Appropriations 1021 O Street, Suite 8220 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: SB 932 (Portantino): General plans: circulation element: bicycle and pedestrian plans and traffic calming plans. Notice of OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED (As amended June 20, 2022) Dear Assembly Member Holden, The City of San Luis Obispo must respectfully oppose unless amended SB 932 (Portantino), which would create unfunded mandates for costly improvements to local transportation infrastructure without providing funding for implementation. Also, this bill would expose many local governments to new legal risks that may result in litigation costs to defend and settle. Local agencies support active transportation projects and have been leading the charge to improve local streets and roads, while also retrofitting them to improve safety for all roadway users. According to the California Transportation Commission, during just the first two and a half fiscal years when SB 1 (Beall, 2017) funds were available, cities and counties reported spending $1.5 billion to complete over 3,100 projects, Despite the significant progress that local governments have made to develop active transportation projects in their communities, SB 932 takes a top -down approach that dictates both the type of improvements required and the timing for implementing such improvements. The timeframes in SB 932 do not account for existing funding gaps, much less the additional capital costs of the improvements the bill mandates. Recent amendments to SB 932 would create new legal risks for the largest ten counties and the cities located within those jurisdictions that fail to meet the bill’s arbitrary implementation timeframes. The provisions of SB 932 upend design immunity in the Tort Claims Act (Government Code § 890) that prohibit a local government from being sued for negligence. SB 932 would create a mandatory duty and thus would establish “dangerous conditions” for local streets and roads that may jeopardize a city’s liability coverage after being recategorized as very high risk due to the provisions of SB 932. It is more appropriate to solicit local government input and planning for incorporation into the state’s active transportation plans, which are not required to be updated, rather than creating the new private right of action. Simply put, every additional dollar tha t goes Letter - Opposing SB 932 July 29, 2022 Page 2 toward defending against litigation is one fewer dollar available for improving our local streets and roads. As a result, we recommend that this new private right of action be completely removed. SB 932 does not contain a funding mechanism despite the Legislature proposing $1.5 billion in the state budget for active transportation projects. SB 932 should be amended to create a grant program tied to the $1.5 billion allocated for these projects. The City of San Luis Obispo has invested heavily in bicycle infrastructure. Earlier this year The City opened the Railway Safety Trail Bridge which creates a safer connection between Cal Poly and downtown for bicyclists and pedestrians. In July the City Council approved going to bid for the North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway that will have protected two-way bicycle infrastructure, creating another safe pathway for students to get to school and families to access downtown San Luis Obispo. We believe in investing in bike infrastructure. But this bill is not the way to achieve our bicycle transportation goals. Decisions about the timing and type of investments should be left to individual communities, not dictated in a top down manner. For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo opposes, unless amended, SB 932. Sincerely, Erica A. Stewart Mayor City of San Luis Obispo c: Members, Assembly Committee on Appropriations (via email: approps.committee@assembly.ca.gov The Honorable Anthony Portantino, Senator Jay Dickenson, Chief Consultant, Assembly Committee on Appropriations Daniel Ballon, Fiscal Consultant, Assembly Minority Caucus League of California Cities (via email: cityletters@calcities.org)