CA Gov't Code Section 8879.79

(a)

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department, with the approval of the Director of Finance and the California Transportation Commission, may make a loan or loans from the State Highway Account of federal funds made available to it pursuant to Title 23 of the United States Code for purposes of funding a project, or a portion of a project, that has been programmed to be funded by Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20). The department may make a loan of federal funds under this section only if it has determined that the loan of those funds will not impact the department’s ability to fund programmed projects delivered under the state highway operation and protection program, the state transportation improvement program, or any program or project funded with local subvention funds, including, but not limited to, projects contained in the report submitted to the department pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 182.6 of the Streets and Highways Code. The aggregate amount of the loan shall not exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that the committee, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 8879.22, has, by resolution, authorized to be sold, less any amount loaned pursuant to Section 8879.31 or 8879.77 or withdrawn pursuant to Section 8879.32. Federal funds loaned under this section are hereby appropriated for that purpose, and shall be obligated directly to the project or projects funded under this section. That obligation shall be considered a loan of federal funds as authorized by this section. The loan or loans shall be repaid without interest to the State Highway Account from the proceeds of bonds sold pursuant to Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20) within three years of the date of the original loan.

(b)

(1)Except as specified in paragraph (2), upon repayment of a loan made pursuant to subdivision (a), those funds are hereby appropriated to the department for use on projects in the state highway operation and protection program.

(2)

If a loan of funds pursuant to subdivision (a) is made from local subvention funds, the funds received for repayment of the loan are hereby appropriated to the department for use in the local assistance program consistent with the manner in which the loaned federal funds would have otherwise been used.

(c)

(1)The department shall make loans under this section only under circumstances in which federal funds might otherwise be lost to the state. Those circumstances may include, but are not limited to, significant unplanned project savings, delayed project delivery, or a change in federal funding.

(2)

In the case of local subvention funds controlled by a regional transportation planning agency, the department may not make a loan of funds under this section except at the request of the specific regional transportation planning agency to which the funds were previously allocated.

(3)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to change or supersede the department’s normal guidelines and procedures for managing obligation authority or the obligation of federal funds.

(4)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to give priority to projects funded by Chapter 12.49 (commencing with Section 8879.20) over state or local projects planned to be funded with federal funds.

(d)

Within 45 days after the end of each fiscal year in which the loan authority under subdivision (a) has been exercised, the department shall report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on the loans made and the methodology used for selecting the projects funded.

(e)

The loan authority provided by this section shall be available only until September 30, 2015.

(f)

This article shall become inoperative when all loans are repaid pursuant to subdivision (a), and shall be repealed on January 1, 2019, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative or is repealed.