![]() In the second year, Wells said, agencies have to also provide data and information about their spending even if they don’t have plans to use infrastructure funds for operations. ![]() Steve Wells of the state Department of Finance said in a meeting of the Assembly Budget Committee on Monday that regional transit providers will be required in the first year to submit spending plans, including whether they will use the money for operations or infrastructure. The task force is expected to issue a report by October 31. The task force will include representatives from transit operators, the state’s transportation department, local government transportation agencies, and metro and regional planning organizations. The budget deal also requires transit agencies to follow new “accountability measures,” including the creation of a transportation “task force” that will oversee the use of state money and find ways to increase transit ridership. So only buys us about two years of runways on the fiscal cliff,” he said. “The fiscal needs over the next five years for Bay Area transit is $2.5 billion. Policy analyst Zack Deutsch-Gross from Transform, the nonprofit advocacy group, told The Oaklandside that while the new budget deal was a “huge win for transit and riders,” the local agencies will still struggle to stay afloat. So taking some of the $4 billion and using it for operations, according to advocates, would mean delaying important infrastructure projects, and it could force the state and the Bay Area to miss out on an additional $6 billion in federal matching funds for the rail extension project. ![]() Most of this $4 billion was originally set aside for big rail projects like the extension of BART to San Jose’s Diridon station. The deal also allows transit agencies to dip into about $4 billion in state infrastructure assistance to use this money for operations over the next two years. The legislature had originally proposed this same amount of money be made available over the next three years. The deal agreed to on Monday sets aside $1.1 billion in “flexible” funding over the next four years, money that transit agencies can use for operations or infrastructure. “We are accelerating our global leadership on climate by fast-tracking the clean energy projects that will create cleaner air for generations to come,” Newsom said. Budget negotiations between the governor and legislature had stalled in recent days due to Newsom’s insistence the state drop environmental review requirements for certain types of major infrastructure projects.
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