SB1 Passes Senate Committee
Transportation Funding Plan is Gaining Momentum
A bill that will provide about $6 billion a year to fix and maintain state and local highways, roads and bridges passed the Senate Environmental Quality (EQ) Committee this week on a 4-2 vote. While the bill has had strong support so far in two committee hearings, it will eventually need a two-thirds vote from both houses of the Legislature.
Senator Jim Beall (D-Santa Clara) told the EQ Committee that recent storms have caused $500 million in damage to California roadways. That’s on top of a backlog of deferred maintenance that totals more than $70 billion over the next ten years. “We have to stop the bleeding,” said Senator Beall. “Unless we do that, we’re going to have a pile of bills to pay to do all the work that needs to be done.”