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The California Transportation Plan, or CTP, 2050 details the state's long-range transportation vision and establishes a roadmap to improve mobility and accessibility in the state while reducing greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions related to transportation.
“California’s transportation system connects 40 million residents to jobs, housing, vital services and recreation,” said Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin. “The plan sets a bold vision to foster economic vitality, protect our environment and meet the transportation needs of all Californians.”
The CTP 2050 is a comprehensive, ambitious plan that – as opposed to focusing on individual projects or budgets – examines wide-ranging policies and strategies to meet several key objectives, including:
– Expanding economic opportunities through the easy, integrated movement of people, freight and services;
– Creating a low-carbon transportation system that protects public and environmental health;
– Advancing transportation equity and improving quality of life for Californians;
– Responding to current and emerging trends and challenges, including demographic and economic shifts, land use changes, and other factors;
– Enhancing safety and security on bridges, highways and roads;
– Fostering healthy lifestyles through walking and bicycling paths;
– Harnessing potential changes in travel behavior, such as increased use of autonomous vehicles, shared mobility services and the effects of increased telework, telehealth and distance learning, to reduce our reliance on driving; and
– Supporting sustainable growth and affordable housing.
By 2050, California’s transportation system will need to support an estimated 45 million residents with an integrated, sustainable network of mobility options that provide safe, convenient and reliable access to jobs, education, health care and other services that improve quality of life in all areas of the state.
California must do this while also achieving its goal of reducing GHG emissions from transportation to 80 percent below 1990 emissions levels by 2050.
To make this a reality, Caltrans and local transportation agencies identified eight priorities in the CTP 2050 to guide policy and budget decisions and transportation planning in the years ahead:
Safety – Provide a safe and secure system designed to eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries and withstand natural disasters.
Climate – Achieve statewide GHG emission reduction targets and make the state’s transportation system more resilient to climate change.
Equity – Eliminate transportation barriers and expand access across all communities, particularly in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color and for people with disabilities.
Accessibility – Improve mobility across all modes of transportation, including transit, walking, biking and vehicle travel so all Californians can safely and easily reach their destination.
Quality of Life and Public Health – Enable vibrant, healthy communities through expanded walking and bicycling paths and convenient transit options to reduce GHG emissions and dependence on driving.
Economy – Support a vibrant, resilient economy by improving freight movement and access to housing and jobs.
Environment – Reduce the negative impacts of transportation by expanding low-carbon and sustainable mobility options.
Infrastructure – Maintain a reliable transportation system that is sustainable and resilient to climate change and natural disasters.
During the development of the CTP 2050, roadway congestion was initially reduced in many cities due to COVID-19. However, while the pandemic continues, vehicle traffic has returned to nearly pre-pandemic levels and is likely to worsen, especially if transit service and ridership remain well below pre-pandemic levels.
Expanding access to transit and safe walking and bicycle paths were priorities for Caltrans before the arrival of COVID-19 and remain essential to achieving a sustainable recovery.
The CTP 2050 seeks to advance racial and economic justice by redirecting resources to marginalized and underinvested communities and amplifying voices that have been historically excluded from the transportation decision-making process.
The plan emphasizes the importance of engagement and careful planning to ensure all Californians enjoy the benefits of transportation projects and are not subject to negative project impacts, particularly in historically underserved and underrepresented communities, such as Black and Latino neighborhoods. Improving engagement in transportation planning at the neighborhood level will limit those communities’ exposure to pollution from the transportation system, provide expanded mobility options, and enhance access to jobs, education, healthy food and transit.
Visit the California Transportation Plan page to view the report.
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This landmark gun violence prevention legislation requires background checks on all firearm sales.
Click here to read bill text and here for a section by section.
H. R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, was first introduced in January 2019 and passed in February 2019 and sat on then-Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk for the rest of the 116th Congress despite urgent and strong pressure to take up this important legislation.
“The last two years have been a turning point in our longstanding fight to help prevent gun violence and we take another leap forward in helping to save lives. Joined by Democrats and Republicans, we introduce the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 to help keep guns out of the hands of those who may be a danger to themselves or others,” said Chairman Thompson. “Time and time again, we have seen that the American people want universal background checks, in fact public polling shows that the majority of people, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, support this. We began our work to combat the scourge of gun violence eight years ago after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School and will not stop until we deliver for the American people.”
“Every day, the epidemic of gun violence shatters lives in countless communities across the country,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “With Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chairman Mike Thompson’s reintroduction of H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, the Democratic House is continuing its urgent action to end the epidemic. Guided by the voices of millions of young people marching for their lives and aided by the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Democratic Congress will continue our work to ensure H.R. 8 and other life-saving gun violence prevention measures are finally enacted into law. Enough is enough.”
Background checks are simple, easy, and they save lives. That's why more than 90 percent of Americans support our legislation to make sure no guns are sold in this country without a check,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who introduced the companion Senate bill. “Joe Biden and hundreds of congressional candidates from both parties ran on the issue of background checks. This is the year to get this bill passed into law. And this legislation has the chance to bring this country together – even 85 percent of gun owners believe in expanding background checks, and a growing anti-gun violence movement, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, is demanding change. I look forward to working across the aisle to get background checks legislation across the finish line.”
“I am proud to support the Bipartisan Background Checks Act to extend the firearms background check requirement so that we can help keep guns out of the hands of felons and others who are legally prohibited from possessing them. No longer should those who are prohibited from owning a gun use gaps in the law like the online sale loophole and the gun show loophole to obtain these weapons,” said Chairman Nadler. “This bipartisan bill has the overwhelming support of the American people and it is time that we enact these critical improvements to our law so that we save lives. I thank Rep. Thompson for his leadership in advancing this legislation and look forward to supporting its passage.”
“After every tragic shooting, we say, ‘Enough is enough.’ But nothing changes. It’s past time for change. Sadly, while we cannot prevent every act of violence, certainly we can prevent many more. We owe it to our communities to try. The legislation we’re introducing today closes loopholes using technology that will make our southwest Michigan communities safer and still complies with the Second Amendment,” said Upton.
“I would like to thank Chairman Thompson for his persistent leadership in seeking to pass real gun safety legislation. As one of the Vice-Chairs of the Gun Task Force, I believe H.R. 8 will make a monumental difference in lowering the amount of gun violence in America and by providing a constitutionally protected approach to gun sales,” said Jackson Lee. “It is important to move this bill forward and to finally have a responsible manner for gun transfers in America. H.R. 8 will save lives!”
“Reasonable laws that protect Second Amendment rights while ensuring that felons, fugitives, domestic abusers and other dangerous individuals do not have access to guns help prevent violence and save lives,” said Smith. “This common-sense legislation would ensure that firearms are purchased, owned and used by responsible, law-abiding citizens by closing the ‘private sale loophole’ and listing all those prohibited from buying a firearm in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.”
"The quickest and simplest step we can take to curb gun violence across our country is through expanding background checks on all gun sales," said Kelly. "The American people are tired of watching our brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and even our small children be taken from us by gun violence at the hands of those who should have never had access to a gun in the first place. We know that expanding background checks will help lessen gun violence and save lives. I will continue working with my colleagues to ensure that this and other common sense reforms to end gun violence advance through Congress."
“Background checks are a proven, effective measure in keeping our communities safe,” said Fitzpatrick. “This legislation protects the constitutional rights of law abiding Americans while seeking to prevent felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill from lawfully purchasing a firearm. Congress owes our nation’s families and children bipartisan gun safety reform, and the introduction of H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 brings us closer towards fulfilling that obligation.”
“It has been two years since we stood together in the House chamber and voted to pass this common-sense bill. I voted ‘Yes’ for my son, Jordan Davis, and for all the lives lost to gun violence,” said McBath. “I promised I would take that sense of protection, that love a mother has for her son, and use it for my community. That I would dedicate my life for families like mine in Marietta, Georgia, who are terrified that they will send their kids to school and never see them come home. Terrified that they will one day be me. Today, we once again take an historic step to protect our children, to protect our communities, and to save American lives.”
The Gun Violence Prevention Task Force was established after the tragedy at Sandy Hook and has grown to a membership of more than 185.
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On Tuesday afternoon, Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen presented to the board a list of 490 properties proposed for tax sale from June 5 to 8 on the Bid4Assets website.
Minimum bids for all of those properties total $2,944,800, according to Ringen’s report.
Owners who are behind in their taxes have up until just before the auction to pay off their tax bill and redeem their properties.
Ringen said the properties won’t be available for view on Bid4Assets until 30 days before the auction.
The county held its last tax sale from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2.
The Bid4Assets site shows that 141 properties were listed, 63 were sold, 13 were withdrawn or postponed and 65 did not sell.
The specifics of that past sale, including the amount of money it brought in for the county, should become clearer soon; Ringen told Lake County News a preliminary report on the sale with more precise numbers is expected to be available on Wednesday.
Over the last few years, a dearth of tax sales has caused friction between Ringen and Board Chair Bruno Sabatier, as well as the city of Clearlake, which has sued the county over the issue and its allegations that Ringen has violated state law by not pursuing the sales in a more timely manner. The city also has argued that not having enough sales amounts to millions in lost revenue.
The city of Clearlake appealed to state agencies to address the issue and on Dec. 15 State Controller Betty T. Yee wrote to Ringen about her office’s inquiry.
Yee concluded by offering two recommendations to Ringen:
– Identify in the tax-default property listing all paper subdivisions and other properties that are unlikely to sell at a tax sale to provide perspective on the challenges of selling tax-defaulted properties.
– Offer to sell 1,000 tax-defaulted properties per year in order to be in compliance with Revenue Taxation Code section 3962 in about six years. That code section requires that if a property is not sold at a recent tax-default sale because there were no acceptable bids, the tax collector is required to attempt to sell the property at intervals of no more than six years until the property is sold.
Board supports proposal
“I think 490 is a decent start,” Supervisor Jessica Pyska said of the number of properties to be offered in the June sale.
With the expectation that many properties will be redeemed, Pyska asked about the strategy for getting the county to a higher number of properties for sale.
Ringen said she expects to have 1,000 properties for sale a year, which will be the total number that she’ll bring to the board.
She said her department sends notifications to taxpayers on an ongoing basis to get them to pay their property taxes. They also notify them of payment plans when they’re eligible. “Offering them a tax sale would be our last option,” she said.
Pyska estimated that based on the number of properties that have been redeemed in the past, that about 500 properties would actually be sold.
Ringen said the goal is to have property owners redeem property and not sell them. She said the parcels to be offered in June are land only or unoccupied structures that may be red-tagged and are not as desirable as some of the properties, but that 1,000 properties per year would be the maximum.
Pyska asked if there is a way to increase it. “We’ve got such a backlog,” she said of tax-defaulted properties.
Ringen said no, the number couldn’t be increased. She said she believes there are 4,600 properties countywide eligible for tax sale but most of them are in the paper subdivisions – lots that are small and unbuildable. She said she plans to bring a report on those properties to the board.
“I have been pretty tough on you this past two years,” said Sabatier, noting that he’s really pleased about the list of 490 properties.
He admitted to being hesitant that Ringen would be able to get such a high number of properties ready for tax auction in the short period of time since the last auction.
Sabatier said he was pleased that people are paying off their taxes. “Our goal is not to have this amount of tax defaults.”
If people pay it off their taxes, it’s a win, if the county sells the properties, it’s a win, he said, because the number in tax default will be reduced.
“I think that this is a very good step forward,” he said, telling Ringen he appreciated the work her department had done. “I hope that this is a page-turning moment.”
He said part of the board’s approval of the list included allowing the minimum bids for 74 properties that haven’t been previously sold to be reduced in order to sell them.
The 74 properties to have their minimum prices reduced originally totaled $1.9 million, but a $1.1 million reduction has put those total minimum bids down to $790,000, he said.
Sabatier asked Ringen her about one property on Emory Avenue in Clearlake that was reduced by $161,000 from an original minimum bid of $181,500. Ringen said the property has been in tax default since 2009 and had been offered for sale several times, beginning in 2017, but hadn’t sold. Originally there was a structure on the property, it has had two nuisance abatement liens placed on it totaling about $59000, plus taxes and penalties and delinquent sewer fees of $2,000.
Sabatier asked if Ringen’s plan is to have another tax auction of about the same size in early 2022. Ringen said they may be doing one larger tax sale later in that year – rather than two smaller ones – due to a staffer who is expected to be out for several months.
Supervisor EJ Crandell said the tax sales will make a difference in his community and his Northshore district, where there are many tax-defaulted and problem properties.
“This is the path to solving it,” he said.
Crandell offered the resolution, which the board approved 5-0.
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The meeting – the open portion of which lasted about a half-hour – featured a discussion about a deficit recovery plan.
District officials said the plan is necessary due primarily to a structural deficit and other needs the district must meet.
Chief Business Official Joseph Silveira explained that at the board’s Feb. 11 meeting it received a letter from the Lake County Office of Education regarding the 2020-21 First Interim Budget Report.
The district has to certify that it can meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the next two.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said in his letter that the report showed a structural deficit regarding Lakeport Unified’s ability to meet its financial obligations in 2022-23, which puts it in “qualified status.”
Falkenberg’s letter identifies an ongoing decline in enrollment as an impact on district revenue.
Lakeport Unified Superintendent Jill Falconer’s letter in response to Falkenberg on March 1 said the district needed to reduce expenditures by $668,000 to address the structural deficit, costs to negotiate and two additional teachers.
Silveira said the measures proposed to the school board were meant to get the district out of qualified status by its next budget report.
He went over the deficit recovery plan with the board. The plan, which can be seen below, identifies a structural deficit of $304,000 and $208,000 needed for negotiations.
Proposed additions include two teacher jobs, both at Terrace Middle School, along with a Clear Lake High School counselor – a position that was hired with COVID-19 money to help students adjust and which Falconer said they want to keep on permanently – and three half-time intervention paraeducators, one each for the elementary, middle and high schools.
Proposed reductions include a full-time guidance assistant, one teacher at Clear Lake High, two teachers at the elementary school and one at the middle school, a part-time middle school cafeteria worker and six part-time campus supervisors, two at each of the schools.
Funding changes outlined on the plan include moving several positions in the budget, which will result in no change in cost. In one position, where an elementary school technology staffer is leaving and being replaced by a new person, the savings is $15,000.
Silveira said the changes were to address the current budget, not the situation in 2022-23, when the district could “fall off a cliff” due to reduced student numbers.
If enrollment numbers improve, “we don’t fall off a cliff,” Falconer was quick to point out.
Falconer told the board that the teacher positions being reduced are at schools where enrollment is down.
“This is a very strange year,” she said, explaining that they can’t predict enrollment.
“It’s much better to be understaffed than to be overstaffed,” she added.
Board Chair Dan Buffalo asked about whether the district was planning layoff notices. Falconer said there is the potential for one for a teacher. The district hasn’t yet brought forward potential classified employee layoffs as they don’t have to be laid off by March 15 as teachers do, she said.
There was no public comment on the plan and the board approved it unanimously.
The school board also unanimously approved a resolution regarding the reduction or continuance of particular kinds of services in order to lay off the equivalent of one full-time teaching position, cutting 21st century life skills, current events, earth science and computer skills, and two periods of physical education.
Also on the agenda was an update to the classified substitute salary schedule, needed due to the minimum wage increase, which the board approved along with an application to the US Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities Grant Program in support of the new Clear Lake High School agriculture class.
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Lakeport Unified School District Deficit Recovery Plan by LakeCoNews on Scribd