The State of California stated in a recent legal filing that the U.S. Department of Labor “has appeared to be acting as if the district court order had never (been) issued” regarding the freeing of more than $100 million in federal grants the state has earmarked for various transit agencies.
The conflict between the state and the U.S. DOL is holding up the pending planning of several districts within California, including the AC Transit District and the West Contra Costa Transit Authority in the East Bay, as well as San Francisco's Muni system, Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority and other agencies around the state.
According to Josh Shaw, executive director of the California Transit Association, in a recent statement, some agencies already are considering their options, including service cuts and layoffs, if the funding freeze continues. “Monterey-Salinas Transit is closest,” Shaw indicated, to having to following such a road.
On April 27, the U.S. DOL sought dismissal of its appeal of a federal court ruling that it had erred in delaying the grants. The delay had been based on a federal claim, which was rejected by a federal court, that a California public employee pension reform interfered with transit union bargaining rights. At the heart of the legal fight is a 1964 federal law meant to protect public transit unions. Via that law, the U.S. DOL is refusing to certify public transit grants because of its interpretation of California’s pension reform. The court found the DOL’s actions “arbitrary and capricious.”
The state opposes dismissing the appeal because the money still is not flowing, insisting that the DOL rejected the court’s finding. “In light of the district court's ruling, we continue to believe that grant money should flow to California transit agencies without delay,” a spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown's office stated late last week.
