RECEIVE and COMMENT on draft 2017 Legislative Program.

The purpose of the legislative program is to set general principles to guide staff and Board responses to proposed legislative or budgetary issues. The program also notifies state representatives of the Transportation Agency’s position on issues of key importance to the agency.

The recommended action has no direct financial impact.

The 2016 TAMC Legislative Program focused on maintaining and augmenting transportation funding. The 2017 legislative program continues this focus on transportation funding. Attachment 1 is the draft 2017 legislative program.

The Executive Committee discussed this draft program on October 5 and on October 26, the Board received the draft 2017 Legislative Program and approved releasing the program to Committees for comment. Following the Committees’ review of the draft program in November, the final program will come back to the Executive Committee and Board in January for adoption.

Attachment 2 is a letter from Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) regarding the imminent expiration of Caltrans' federal environmental review delegation authority, known as the "waiver of sovereign immunity". Attachment 3 is the letter TAMC sent to the State delegation asking for urgent legislation to extend that waiver.