This was a challenging legislative session, but many excellent bills are waiting for the governor’s signature, and the regional transportation funding measure is delayed, not derailed. Bills that will bring more transparency to Caltrans, keep bridges toll-free for people biking and walking, and improve public transit passed the legislature. Eight bills Transform sponsored or supported that will improve housing and transportation are one step away from becoming law. And one of our bills has already been signed.

Caltrans accountability

Transform was a co-sponsor of Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo’s Transportation Accountability Act, AB 2086, which is waiting for the governor’s signature. This sunlight measure requires Caltrans to enhance its reporting dashboard and report how expenditures match with the California Transportation Plan. It’s a crucial step toward giving Californians the information they need to see where our transportation dollars are going and ensure they are mitigating rather than worsening the climate and equity. 

Constitutional amendment for affordable housing financing

Amending the California Constitution is a two-step process. First, the amendment must pass the legislature and be signed by the governor. Then, it goes to the voters.

ACA 1, the constitutional amendment allowing local bonds to finance affordable housing to pass with 55% of the vote instead of the currently hard-to-reach threshold of two-thirds, passed the legislature and was signed by the governor in 2023. This fall, it’s on the ballot as Proposition 5. ACA 10 is a measure to clarify several elements of ACA 1. It expands the definition of eligible public infrastructure for measures that can be passed with 55% and broadens the definition of affordable housing. 

The governor has already signed ACA 10. Expect this measure on the ballot in the near future. 

Seven more bills waiting for a signature

An additional seven bills that Transform supports are on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. We hope he signs them.

• California Transportation Commission membership, AB 832 (Cervantes): The CTC is tasked with overseeing and approving road projects. The governor appoints nine of the 13 board members with a nonbinding understanding that members should represent diverse backgrounds and have expertise in transportation issues. This bill will require the governor to appoint at least one member with experience working on transportation issues in disadvantaged communities.
• Yield right-of-way sign on transit buses, AB 1904 (Ward): This measure would authorize transit providers anywhere in California to add signs to the backs of buses reminding drivers to yield the right of way. Only the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District currently has that right.
• No tolls for biking or walking, AB 2669 (Ting): As a measure banning toll bridge authorities from charging people who walk or bike across their bridges sunsets, this bill would make the ban permanent. Most of the affected bridges are in the Bay Area, and this is an excellent way to encourage, rather than penalize, active transportation.
• Mitigating vehicular traffic impacts, AB 3177 (Carrillo, Wendy): The Mitigation Fee Act allows lower traffic impact fees for housing developments near transit. This bill tightens those requirements to transit priority areas and locations where future transit stops will be built within one year. It also limits road widening related to new developments.
• Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District expansion, SB 904 (Dodd): This bill would expand the rail right of way for SMART transit to the Mendocino County line.
• Complete Streets on Caltrans corridors, SB 960 (Wiener): The Complete Streets Bill would add biking, walking, and transit targets to Caltrans’ 10-year plans and require more reporting and accountability for adding Complete Streets on state routes used by people who bike, walk, or take public transit.
• Safer vehicles save lives, SB 961 (Wiener): This bill would require new cars sold, starting in 2030, to include passive intelligent speed assist, which would alert drivers when they exceed the posted speed limit by 10 mph or more.

Regional transportation measure will come back next year

One of our legislative priorities, the Regional Transportation Measure, SB 1031, didn’t pass the legislature. But a secure funding source for Bay Area public transit remains a top priority for Transform and our allies at Voices for Public Transportation. A funding bill will return to the legislature in 2025, and we are working hard to ensure that it covers all nine Bay Area counties and includes a progressive revenue source.

More bills that didn’t make it

A few bills we supported died in the legislature. It often takes more than one try for an innovative idea to gather enough support to become law. Here are a few that we hope to see return in a future legislative session.

• Youth Housing Bond Act of 2024, SB 1079 (Menjivar): A bond measure to fund affordable housing for youth is something California needs.
• The Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2024, AB 1657 (Wicks, D): This bill would have authorized a $10 billion affordable housing bond to go before California voters.
• No New Highways In Environmentally Burdened Communities, AB 2535 (Bonta): This bill would have increased scrutiny of projects that widen highways through neighborhoods already suffering from high pollution burdens, which are most often low-income and BIPOC. It would have gotten rid of a CEQA exemption when these expansions are for the movement of freight, a much-needed change.
• Lowering the voting age, SCA 2 (Stern): This Senate constitutional amendment would have lowered the voting age in California elections from 18 to 17.