SACRAMENTO, Calif., - Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Assembly Bill 1783 authored by Assembly member Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. which will save over $1 billion in federal transit money for California transit agencies. AB 1783 extends the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) exemption for transit employees.
This measure was in response to recent legal action between the US Department of Labor (USDOL) and the Sacramento Regional Transit District (Sac RT). Earlier this year, the USDOL notified Sac RT that it was refusing to certify millions of dollars in transit grants because it asserted that provisions of the PEPRA were incompatible with federal labor law.
“Until the legal issue between the U.S. Department of Labor and the Sacramento Regional Transit District is settled, this bill will continue to protect hundreds of thousands of hard-working employees as well as save our local transit companies billions of dollars,” said Assembly member Jones-Sawyer.
Data compiled by the California State Transportation Agency indicates that if AB 1783 was not signed into law, it would have cost Sac RT, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Orange County Transportation Authority, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, and many other agencies over $1 billion and an estimated 175,000 jobs.
AB 1783 was an urgency measure and will take effect immediately.
Assembly member Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. is a Democrat representing areas of Los Angeles and the communities of Huntington Park, Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone.
For more information contact: Joey Hill (916) 319-2059