Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Dutra to Be Honored by MTC

Assemblyman John Dutra, left, accepts the award from MTC Chair Sharon Brown, right

Contact:

Randy Rentschler
rrents@mtc.ca.gov
510.817.5780

David Weinreich
dweinr@mtc.ca.gov
510.464.7846

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 26, 2001. . . The Bay Area owes a big thank-you to state Assemblyman John Dutra (D-Fremont). During the course of 2001, the Fremont legislator and chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee sponsored Assembly Constitutional Amendment 4 (ACA 4), which would put state and local transportation funding on a much firmer footing, and another bill that will ensure that funding is sufficient to retrofit all of California's state-owned toll bridges, including the replacement of the Bay Bridge's eastern span.

"In his first year as Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Dutra has authored and steered to passage two very important bills for the Bay Area and California," said MTC Chair Sharon Brown. "On behalf of the Bay Area, MTC will thank Assemblymember Dutra for these accomplishments by presenting him the 2001 John F. Foran Legislative Award." The presentation will take place this Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 10 a.m. in the Lawrence Dahms Auditorium at the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth Street in Oakland.

ACA 4 places Proposition 42 on the March 2002 ballot. If passed, Proposition 42 would perpetually dedicate the state sales tax on gasoline to transportation purposes without a tax increase. The existing sales tax was first dedicated for transportation purposes in 2000 when the $6.8 billion Traffic Congestion Relief Program was passed, but both the fund transfer and the program are set to expire in 2008. Proposition 42 would add $5.8 billion to Bay Area transportation projects and $29.3 billion statewide over the next 25 years -- critically needed new revenue that would help this region and all of California address major transportation requirements, which are expected to increase as the population continues to grow. The new funds would be split 20 percent to cities and 20 percent to counties for local street and road maintenance, 40 percent for the State Transportation Improvement Program or STIP (the STIP is the statewide vehicle for funding major transportation projects), and 20 percent for other specifically identified transit operations and capital projects. Proposition 42 requires a simple majority vote for passage and would be the first new funding source for transportation in over a decade; this would be achieved without a tax increase of any kind.

Dutra also authored Assembly Bill 1171, which provides $2.5 billion in additional funding needed to construct a seismically sound eastern span for the Bay Bridge and to retrofit other state-owned toll bridges throughout the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego. "This hard-fought measure will ensure that commuters are safe when they cross these busy bridges, and that the Bay Area's economy is protected when the next big temblor arrives," said MTC Vice Chair Steve Kinsey.

Dutra was successful in achieving passage of both bills. AB 1171 passed in the Senate by 23-13 and in the Assembly by 46-27. ACA 4 swept the Senate 36-1 and the Assembly 68-2.

Assemblyman Dutra has served on the Assembly Transportation Committee since 1999, taking over as chair in the fall of 2000. Dutra has been an assemblymember since 1998. Before that he served on the Fremont City Council and the Fremont Planning Commission.

The John F. Foran Legislative Award has been given out annually since 1986 to a legislator who has worked hard to advance the Bay Area's transportation needs. It is named in honor of former state Sen. John F. Foran, the long-term chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and author of the bill that created MTC.

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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