On December 9, 2021, CSDA joined a coalition letter seeking certification of certain federal grants to California transit agencies. The letter was sent to the secretaries of the United States Department of Transportation and United States Department of Labor (USDOL). A copy of the letter can be found here.
The letter concerns an October 28 determination by USDOL that California’s Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) substantially impacts transit workers’ collective bargaining rights in a manner that precludes certification of certain federal mass transit funding pursuant to Section 13(c) of the federal Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (UMTA). This determination is a reversal from USDOL’s most recent determination on the same topic following an adverse decision by the United States District Court of the Eastern District of California.
The determination by USDOL potentially jeopardizes California state and local transit agencies’ ability to access billions of dollars in federal transit funds. The State of California intervened in litigation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, and is seeking to stay implementation of the new determination. (See Amalgamated Transit Union, International, et al. v. United States Department of Labor, et al., E.D. Cal. Case No. 2:20-cv-00953-KJM-DB)
Because this matter may materially impact CSDA’s members providing transit services, CSDA quickly joined forces with a broad coalition of partners, including the California Transit Association, California State Association of Counties, and League of California Cities, to sign on to the coalition letter urging the continued certification of federal grants to California transit agencies as this matter is reviewed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The coalition letter joined by CSDA follows letters from United States Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, as well as Governor Gavin Newson, urging USDOL to continue to certify the impacted federal transit funds.
Senator Feinstein’s and Senator Padilla’s letter can be found here.
Governor Newsom’s letter can be found here.
For additional questions, please contact CSDA Legislative Representative, Aaron Avery (aarona@csda.net).
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