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Infrastructure construction bills lining up in Sacramento for June ballot

By ERIK PISOR, The Daily Transcript
January 18, 2006

As San Diego County's population and size continue to growth so do its costly infrastructure needs. But relief could be provided by a number of proposed state Assembly and Senate bills that may find their way onto the June ballot.

According to Paul Tryon, CEO of the San Diego Building Industry Association (BIA), the county's largest infrastructure needs are those that make up the "backbone" infrastructure such as roadways, transportation systems, water systems, sewers, schools and utilities.

"The reality is for a generation we've failed to do the infrastructure improvements (needed)," Tryon said. "It's critical that we have a state that's willing to once again invest in infrastructure."

Currently there are two bills, AB1838 and SB1165, which would authorize $12 billion for highway and transit projects.

Funds San Diego County could receive would go toward the Transnet Early Action Program, which consists of 22 transportation projects that, because of their importance, are receiving accelerated implementation, according to
Ellen Roundtree, director of government relations for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). Projects include completing environmental documents for the Interstate 805 widening as well as other lane widening and construction of managed lanes.

Roundtree said the SANDAG policy board already has met to discuss transportation priorities, some of which are local street tops and regional roads. The board will meet again before convening with legislatures to present the county's needs.

Tryon added that the county already needs $2.5 billion worth of sidewalk and road maintenance to catch up with current infrastructure standards.

A backlog of deferred projects is something California state parks in San Diego County is also experiencing, according to Richard Dennison, California state park superintendent for public information. Dozens of maintenance projects have been deferred as a result of an inadequate budget, he said.

Projects include repairing beach access in Carlsbad and making trails more accessible in areas like Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, both projects that deal with health and safety.

The state parks could benefit from four bills, two of which (AB1831 and SB1163) would provide a combined $2.2 billion for health and safety improvements at state parks as well as seismic improvements for state buildings. The other two bills, AB1269 and SB153, would provide funding for environmental programs such as new parks.

Completed in 1961 the county's courthouse could be assisted by SB395, which would authorize an unspecified amount of bonds for court facilities. The state already has identified the courthouse as a facility that would be too costly to retrofit, meaning it must be replaced. Sometime this year the courts will be turned over by the counties to the state, although California has said it won't accept courthouses that are in a substandard condition.

The question of whether to retrofit or replace is also a continuing issue for state hospitals.

According to SB1953, hospitals are required to evaluate and rate all their general acute care hospital buildings for seismic resistance using standards developed by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD).

Those hospital facilities that do not exceed maximum allowable seismic risk have a deadline of 2008 and a final compliance deadline of 2020 to meet 2030 seismic safety standards.

Seismic improvements are the topic of three proposed bills, AB1046, AB1047 and SB491, which would all provide funding for hospital seismic safety improvements. However, the state has $30 billion to $40 billion in hospital seismic improvement needs, according to Jan Emerson, vice president of external affairs for the California Hospital Association (CHA), which means a $1 billion or $2 billion bond would do little to help multiple hospitals.

"We're concerned if they throw us money they'll be a perception that they solved the problem. ... A couple billion (dollar bond) would be a Band-Aid," Emerson said. "We'd rather see some serious policy discussions take place. For us the issue is not are we going to get bond money?"

The CHA is pushing SB167, which would allow hospitals to meet the 2030 safety standards by 2020, thus bypassing the 2008 deadline.

Emerson said hospitals that currently are required to meet the 2008 deadline would need to be torn down to comply the 2030 deadline, so what's the point of having a 2008 deadline?

According to the most recent OSHPD survey on seismic safety, 55 out of 155 hospital buildings rated in the county are required to meet the 2008 deadline.

Other more all-inclusive bills include AB1783, which would authorize an unspecified amount of bonds to pay for transportation, flood control, seismic improvements and emergency communication equipment, and SB1024, which would raise $13.1 billion for flood protection, transportation projects, port improvements and housing programs.

Although San Diego construction industry associations, such as the BIA and Associated General Contractors (AGC), have not taken a formal position on which bills to support, they are supportive of infrastructure investments.

"We're supporting whatever makes sense to San Diego," said Brad Barnum, government affairs director for the San Diego AGC, adding that the key for the AGC and other interest groups will be ensuring the county receives the accurate amount of funding from the state.

On average the county receives 6 percent to 8 percent of the dollars available from a state bond, which might change in the future.

"You're seeing a greater push from San Diego business communities to show there's a bigger need (for state dollars)," Barnum said. He noted that over the years Los Angeles and San Francisco appear to be receiving "more bang for the buck."

In an effort to change the amount of state dollars the county receives, the BIA and AGC joined forces with other groups, including the Economic Development Corp., the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and other development corporations, to form a coalition. The goal is to agree on specific projects that bond dollars would go toward and then present the list of projects to state legislatures with the hope that the list would bring more dollars to the county.

In order for some of the proposed bills to make it on the June ballot, the bills must be presented to the Assembly and Senate by March. The first step will be committee hearings to discuss the bills, which are tentatively scheduled to start the week of Jan. 23.

All of the proposed bills are part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $222.6 billion public works program, which calls for the sale of $68 billion in bonds. The money to pay for the program would come from a combination of existing state revenue and new sources, including the bonds, private investments and anticipated federal funding.

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