Appeals court rules that California officials have illegally used transportation funds

A state appeals court ruled Tuesday that California officials have illegally siphoned away billions of dollars from mass transit in the last two years to balance the budget.

The decision by a panel of judges in the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento would put the state on the hook for $2.5 billion in transfers made in the last two years, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the Department of Finance.

Nearly $1 billion more in such transfers is included in the 2009-10 budget under consideration in the Legislature.

Palmer said the state would appeal to the California Supreme Court within 30 days.

"You bet we're gonna appeal," Palmer said, adding that the state would ask for a stay of the ruling, which comes as elected leaders are already grappling with a projected $24-billion deficit.

--Shane Goldmacher, reporting from Sacramento

Comments

[JIm]

If these "California officials" have "illegally" used transportation funds to cover up their financial incompetence, then they should (1) be identified BY NAME, (2) fired, (3) prosecuted, and (4) required to pay the money back out of their own pockets.

[mike livingston]

Really, they have siphoned transportation funds. Come on call it what it is Robbery. The California Government has become the old railroad companies that used to run this state all crooked. I say rise up against the machine, fire every single one of the SOB's and move to a part time government with no perks place them at the poverty level and make those loosers work. Good Job Mr. S, and the GOP

[Bill]

It's about time somebody stopped the state from stealing other funds - especially those voted on specifically by tax payers. This is a great day!

[Flint]

Wo, it seems like officials in China !!!

[Mina]

Governor Schwarzenegger is the person primarily responsible for diverting voter-approved public transportation funds into other unknown purposes. Keep in mind that the State of California has a very transparent process in place for allowing the public to participate in how these transportation monies are spent; the general fund, on the other hand, provides only that visibility the government chooses to share with us.

Look carefully at everything this governor does – from stealing voter-designated public transportation money, to demanding that the budget include EPA exemptions for his pet road construction projects, to attacking efforts to make energy producers (who are making obscene profits while endangering our State's natural beauty) from paying their fair share, to establishing CARB rules designed to cripple public bus service by imposing impossible and outrageous restrictions on the definition of “zero emission” buses – thus endangering the best tool available today to combat air pollution and catastrophic climate change.

There is a patten here.

The Governor continues to make unreasonable demands such as vetoing every step the legislature takes toward a balanced budget with the absolutely stupid excuse that these step are halfway measures. Well, it's pretty obvious that a problem as big as the California Budget crisis is not going to be solved in one step. His goal isn't to help the state with the budget impasse – he is protecting special interests by crippling the State's ability to stand up for it's own interests.

[Emily]

The court case victory halting the legislature's raid on public transit funds indicates how lost Californians' priorities become in Sacramento's budget mess. To cut traffic congestion and harmful pollution, California needs more public transportation. Recent ballot measure victories, including Measure R in Los Angeles, highlight that voters are willing to pay higher taxes to build it.

Furthermore, there are solutions to balance the budget and pay for public transportation, including taxing oil companies, just like Texas and Alaska already do. But to date Sacramento has chosen to protect the oil companies and punish transit riders.

Governor Schwarzenegger should support a budget that taxes oil companies to help pay for public transportation and other needs. Fellow Republican Gov. Sarah Palin does it. So should California.

Emily Rusch is the State Director of the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG.) CALPIRG filed an amicus brief in support of the California Transit Association's arguments.

[Kymberleigh Richards]

Jim, the list of names is available on the state website. Just click on the links to go to the Senate and Assembly and read the roster. Gov. Schwarzenegger couldn't have attempted this grab of transportation funds without the Legislature going along with it.

With that in mind, tell me how you intend to fire and prosecute the entire Legislature ...?

And let us give credit where credit is due, to Joshua Shaw, executive director of the California Transit Association, for shepherding this lawsuit through the system.

[John Jorsett]

Trying to blame this exclusively on the governor is absurd. Schwarzenegger couldn't have stolen this money without the willing aid of the legislature, the place where the budget gets written. What Schwarzenegger failed to do was to veto the theft, and for that he deserves what he gets. Equally deserving, though, are his accomplices in the Assembly and Senate who are congenitally unable to stop themselves from diverting whatever pots of money they can lay their grubby mitts on.

Keep this in mind whenever you hear a politician talk about establishing a "trust fund" for this or that purpose. No stash of cash is safe from Sacramento's depredations.

[Ken Alpern]

I agree that Joshua Shaw and the CTA deserves kudos, and those who catered to education and other lobbies (as well as those who always dismissed transportation) deserve a big fat razzberry.

Transportation is one of the few critical priorities that's being spent fairly well and is vital to getting us through this economic downturn.