Traffic bill allows sales tax vote
L.A. County voters may be asked to approve a half-cent increase to address transportation issues.
SACRAMENTO — Los Angeles County voters may be asked to approve a halfcent increase in sales tax for transportation projects to ease traffic gridlock, under a measure signed Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The bill allows the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to seek approval for such an increase to continue work done beyond that paid for by a 2008 tax hike.
“If the voters agree, L.A. County can expand its transit system, address key highway needs around the county, bolster local transportation programs and support sustainable development,” said state Senate leader Kevin De León (DLos Angeles), author of the bill.
He cited a study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in 2012 that estimated Los Angeles car commuters sit in traffic an average of 61 hours a year, costing about $1,300 annually in lost time and wasted fuel.
MTA spokesman Rick Jager said the agency board has not decided yet whether to seek a tax increase, but if it does it would probably be on the November 2016 ballot.
In other action Wednesday, Brown made competitive cheerleading an official high school sport.
He signed a bill requiring the state Department of Education to develop safety standards for high school cheerleading by July 1, 2017.
“Today, the governor has ensured these athletes will earn the respect and have the safety standards they deserve,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), the measure’s author, who was a high school and collegiate cheerleader.
The governor also approved legislation requiring companies that have state contracts worth at least $100,000 to provide equal benefits to transgender employees.
“If you want a state contract in the future, you have to treat your transgender employees like any other employee,” said Geoff Kors, legislative policy director at the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights. “Our tax dollars shouldn’t go to companies that discriminate on any basis.”
For example, he said, the new law will prevent a company health plan from offering hormone therapy to an employee with low testosterone but not to a transgender employee who is transitioning from female to male.
Another new law will suspend for three years California’s statewide high school exit exam, which is normally a requirement for students to receive diplomas.
The delay will give education officials time to prepare a new exam aligned with Common Core standards.
The measure will also allow about 32,000 students who did not pass the exam since 2004 to receive diplomas so long as they completed all other graduation requirements.