Move LA is sponsoring Sen. Allen’s SB 961, which won a unanimous bipartisan 13-0 vote in the state Senate Transportation and Housing Committee this past Tuesday, a week after winning a unanimous vote in Senate Governance and Finance. The bill would enable cities and counties to create special infrastructure finance districts near transit that can collect the property and sales tax increment within the district and bond against that revenue stream without having to seek voter approval—so long as 40% of the funds are used for affordable housing.

Move LA is sponsoring 2 very important initiatives to lower the cost of housing and transportation for low-income Californians and both are in committee early this week:

• SB 961 by Sen. Ben Allen would provide a new revenue stream for affordable housing in “enhanced infrastructure finance districts” near transit. Up in Senate Transportation and Housing TOMORROW (Tuesday) at 1:30 p.m.
  
• Asm. Chris Holden is asking Assembly Budget Subcommittee 3 to provide $50 million for discounted transit passes for low-income students statewide. In committee Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. 

Please consider writing your own letters of support or sign on to our support letters—there are links to the letters and more info in the blog posts below. But to weigh in and be heard before these committee hearings it’s best to call your representative or the chair of the committee asap.

Calling is super easy: Tell the person who answers the phone that you urge the senator to support SB 961 or that you urge the assemblymember to support Asm Holden's budget ask for $50 million for student transit passes. (If you are calling about student transit passes and the person who answers the phone asks for a bill number tell them Asm. Holden's ask is not related to a current bill.)

And that's it. If you live in their district you will be asked for your name and address; if you are calling the chair and don’t live in their district say you want to make your opinion known because you think this is an important issue. That's all. The call usually takes a minute but your opinion will be counted!

You can google the Wikipedia page of each district if you need to find out whether you live there. If your district isn’t represented on the committee please call the chair.

For SB 961 call the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee:
Senator Jim Beall (Chair) • D-San Jose • District 15 • (916) 651-4015
Senator Anthony Cannella (Vice Chair) • R-Ceres • District 12 • (916) 651-4012
Senator Benjamin Allen • D-Santa Monica • District 26 • (916) 651-4026
Senator Bill Dodd • D-Napa • District 3 • (916) 651-4003
Senator Ted Gaines • R-El Dorado • District 1 • (916) 651-4001
Senator Cathleen Galgiani • D-Stockton • District 5 • (916) 651-4005
Senator Mike McGuire • D-Healdsburg • District 2 • 916-651-4002
Senator Mike Morrell • R-Rancho Cucamonga • District 23 • 916.651.4023
Senator Richard D. Roth • D-Riverside • District 31 • (916) 651-4031
Senator Nancy Skinner • D-Berkeley • District 9 • (916) 651-4009
Senator Andy Vidak • R-Hanford • District 14 • (916) 651-4014
Senator Bob Wieckowski • D-Fremont • District 10 • (916) 651-4010
Senator Scott D. Wiener • D-San Francisco • District 11 • (916) 651-4011

For funding for discounted student transit passes call Assembly Budget Subcommittee 3
Asm. Richard Bloom (Chair) • D-Santa Monica • District 50 •  (916) 319-2050
Asm. Vincent Fong • R-Bakersfield • District 34 • (916) 319-2050
Asm. Kevin Mullin • D-South San Francisco • District 22 • (916) 319-2022
Asm. Jim Patterson • R-Fresno • District 23 •  (916) 319-2023
Asm. Philip Ting • D-San Francisco • District 19 • (916) 319-2019
Asm. Jay Obernolte • R-Big Bear Lake  • District 33 • (916) 319-2033

Thank you for your support on these important issues!

As Metro considers building a gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium, we should also consider the huge success—and the factors that made it successful—of Portland's aerial tram from the hipster South Waterfront neighborhood below to the Oregon Health & Science University's main campus atop Marquam Hill.

The bill, which Move LA wrote and is sponsoring, would create "Neighborhood Infill Finance and Transit Improvement (NIFTI-2) Districts" around rail stations and along high-frequency bus corridors These districts would collect the enhanced tax increment from increased property and sales taxes within the district and use these funds to invest in district improvements. 

Last year so many people, schools, organizations and local governments supported Asm. Chris Holden's student transit pass bill that one document listed more than 400. This year please add your logo to our sign-on letter of support (link is below) for a statewide program for discounted transit passes for low-income students at middle-schools, high schools, public colleges and universities.

Move LA is very proud to be the sponsor of SB 961 by Senator Ben Allen with the goal of creating more housing in neighborhoods where transit riders can afford to live. SB 961 authorizes cities and counties to create tax increment financing districts—called "Neighborhood Infill Finance and Transit Improvement Districts" (NIFTI-2)—that dedicate 40% of the sales and property tax increment to build or rehab affordable housing around rail stations and along bus corridors. The bill will be heard in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday April 25 and we ask for your support (SEE BELOW)!

We were very pleased to see Joe Linton's review on Streetsblog LA of our #Vision2020 initiative, which we discussed with industry and government leaders, including Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, at the LA Cleantech Incubator on Thursday. Joe wrote:

We’re off and running! It’s our 3^rd try to get funding for a statewide student transit pass program! But we’ve been talking to the Governor’s Office and believe 2018 is the year Governor Brown will sign the bill, which passed out of the Assembly Transportation Committee 14-0 on Monday.