The Smoke and Mirrors Behind California Budget Proposals to Cut Transit to the Core

Dear Senator Perata,

I am writing on behalf of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, a coalition of over 100 environmental and social justice organizations. We are deeply concerned about the cuts to public transit in the Assembly's proposed state budget. And, yesterday, Senator Ackerman threatened to take California even further down the dangerous path of balancing the budget on the backs of public transit riders by suggesting an additional $100 million in cuts from public transit on top of the nearly $1.3 billion in dedicated transit funds that other state leaders have already put on the chopping block.

Particularly upsetting is the myth that these transit funds are excess, unnecessary money that won't be missed by transit. In his June 5 Oakland Tribune Op-Ed, Mike Genest referred to the Spillover as a massive $1.3 billion transfer from the General Fund into the public transportation account. As the Director of California's Department of Finance, he surely knows that the Spillover amounts to a total of $827 million and that these funds are not transfers from the General Fund, but by law go to the public transportation account.

Senator Ackerman was quoted in the Sacramento Bee saying that the Public Transportation Account is "filled by unexpectedly high gasoline sales taxes." To argue that Spillover is excess funding is misleading when it is dedicated by law to public transit, and when public transit agencies depend on these funds when gas prices increase their costs. Second, the argument that all of the $1.3 billion proposed for redirection is excess is just inaccurate. Simple math shows that if the cuts total nearly $1.3 billion and there is $827 in State Spillover revenue, something other than Spillover must be at stake. That something else is core public transit operating dollars.

Additionally, we hope you are as upset as we are about the effort to backfill the public transit cuts with voter-approved transportation bond dollars. As one of the leaders who ensured that transit was included in Prop 1B, you know that voters were promised more transit when they voted for 1B. Replacing existing public transit funding with bond money undermines the will of the voters.

Please don't let the budget be balanced using smoke and mirrors. We encourage you to continue to stand strong for public transit in California.

Sincerely,

Carli Paine, Transportation Program Director
Transportation and Land Use Coalition

Carli Paine is the Transportation Program Director for the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC). Before she worked for TALC, she was an Associate City Planner and an Assistant City Planner in the Bay Area. For more information on the proposed cuts and attempts to protect these funds for public transit visit the Transportation and Land Use Coalition site or contact Carli Paine at carli@transcoalition.org.