BILL NUMBER: SBX1 13 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Vidak
(Coauthors: Senators Anderson, Bates, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Runner, and Stone)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Baker
and Bigelow Baker,
Bigelow, Brough, Gallagher, and
Lackey )
JULY 16, 2015
An act to add Part 5.1 (commencing with Section 14460) to Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 13, as amended, Vidak. Office of the Transportation Inspector
General.
Existing law creates various state transportation agencies,
including the Department of Transportation and the High-Speed Rail
Authority, with specified powers and duties. Existing law provides
for the allocation of state transportation funds to various
transportation purposes.
This bill would create the Office of the Transportation Inspector
General in state government government,
as an independent office that would not be a subdivision of any
other government entity, to build capacity for self-correction
into the government itself and to ensure that all state
agencies expending state transportation funds are operating
efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with federal and state
laws. The bill would provide for the Governor to appoint the
Transportation Inspector General for a 6-year term, subject to
confirmation by the Senate, and would provide that the Transportation
Inspector General may not be removed from office during the term
except for good cause. The bill would specify the duties and
responsibilities of the Transportation Inspector General, would
require an annual report to the Legislature and Governor, and would
provide that funding for the office shall, to the extent possible, be
from federal transportation funds, with other necessary funding to
be made available from the State Highway Account and an account from
which high-speed rail activities may be funded.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Over the next 10 years, the state faces a $59 billion
shortfall to adequately maintain the state highway system in a basic
state of good repair.
(b) There is within the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) a
culture of waste and fraud, as exemplified by exposure of the
deficiencies in the construction of the replacement span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the efforts to internally conceal
those deficiencies, falsified data in the testing of bridge safety,
and Caltrans employees consuming alcohol while on the job, misusing
state assets, and moonlighting on state time.
(b) Numerous audits and reports over the past three years have
highlighted inefficiencies and instances of waste within California's
transportation agencies.
(c) The 21st Annual Highway Report by the Reason Foundation,
published in September 2014, found the following:
(1) California has 50,462 lane miles of highways under the
administration of Caltrans. the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans).
(2) Overall, California spent $501,136 per state mile of highway,
more than three times the national average, yet California's state
highway system ranks 45th in overall performance and cost
effectiveness.
(3) California spent $102,889 per state mile of highway
specifically on maintenance, nearly four times the national average.
(4) California spent $48,754 per state mile of highway
specifically on administration, more than four times the national
average.
(d) The Legislative Analyst's Office included the following
concerns and recommendations related to Caltrans' accountability and
efficiency in the Capital Outlay Support Program Review report issued
in May 2014:
(1) Data used to request budgetary resources for the program is
largely unreliable due to a lack of internal control, lack of data
collection, and an incentive to report inaccurate data.
(2) Steps should be taken to improve data quality for the program.
(e) A Transportation Inspector General should be established to
independently investigate Caltrans, identify waste and
inefficiencies, and report and make
recommendations to the Legislature.
Legislature, and build capacity for self-correction into
the government itself.
SEC. 2. Part 5.1 (commencing with Section 14460) is added to
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
PART 5.1. OFFICE OF THE TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR GENERAL
14460. (a) There is hereby created in state government the
independent Office of the Transportation Inspector General, which
shall not be a subdivision of any other governmental entity, to
build capacity for self-correction into the government itself and
to ensure that the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed
Rail Authority, and all other state agencies expending state
transportation funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in
compliance with applicable federal and state laws.
(b) The Governor shall appoint, subject to confirmation by the
Senate, the Transportation Inspector General to a six-year term. The
Transportation Inspector General may not be removed from office
during that term, except for good cause.
14461. The Transportation Inspector General shall review
policies, practices, and procedures, and conduct audits and
investigations of activities involving state transportation funds in
consultation with all affected state agencies. Specifically, the
Transportation Inspector General's duties and responsibilities shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(a) To examine the operating practices of the Department of
Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, and all other state
agencies expending state transportation funds to identify fraud and
waste, opportunities for efficiencies, and opportunities to improve
the data used to determine appropriate project resource allocations.
(b) To identify best practices in the delivery of transportation
projects and develop policies or recommend proposed legislation
enabling state agencies to adopt these practices when practicable.
(c) To provide objective analysis of, and when possible, offer
solutions to, concerns raised by the public or generated within
agencies involving the state's transportation infrastructure and
project delivery methods.
(d) To conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and
investigations relating to the programs and operations of all state
transportation agencies with state-funded transportation projects.
(e) To recommend policies promoting economy and efficiency in the
administration of programs and operations of all state agencies with
state-funded transportation projects.
14462. The Transportation Inspector General's office shall not
conduct any an audit or investigation
that would be redundant to or concurrent with any
an audit or investigation of the same matter being
conducted contemporaneously by another state entity, or planned to be
initiated pursuant to state or federal law or adopted agency board
policy, within 18 months of the notification of the intent to
undertake the audit or investigation by the Transportation Inspector
General. The state entity shall provide the Transportation Inspector
General with a summary of the results of the audit or investigation
upon its completion, if requested.
14463. (a) The Transportation Inspector General shall report
annually to the Governor and Legislature with a summary of his or her
findings, investigations, and audits. The summary shall be posted on
the Transportation Inspector General's Internet Web site and shall
otherwise be made available to the public upon its release to the
Governor and
Legislature. and Legislature. The
summary shall include, but need not be limited to, significant
problems discovered by the Transportation Inspector General and
whether recommendations of the Transportation Inspector General
relative to investigations and audits have been implemented by the
affected agencies. The report shall be submitted to the Legislature
pursuant to in compliance with Section
9795.
(b) The Transportation Inspector General shall, in consultation
with the Department of Finance, develop a methodology for producing a
workload budget to be used for annually adjusting the budget of the
Office of the Transportation Inspector General, beginning with the
budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. To the extent possible, the
office shall be funded with federal transportation funds. Should
federal funding not be available to fully fund the office, funding
shall be made available, in proportion to the activities of the
office, from the State Highway Account and an account from which
high-speed rail activities may be funded.