Court Orders California to Stop Robbing Transit (Updated)

While the Court claims no authority to order repayment of fundsre-routed in past budget deals, the decision means that continueddiversion of voter-mandated transit funding is illegal going forward.And that means that approximately $1 billion earmarked for the GeneralFund as part of current negotiations must be restored to transit.

“The ruling clearly states that the rip-offs are illegal,” saidJoshua Shaw, Executive Director of the California Transit Associationand lead plaintiff in the suit that was originally filed over $1.19billion taken from the Public Transportation Account (PTA) as part ofthe 2007-08 budget agreement. “It says they’ve been illegal sincebefore 2007, and it says that the definition of mass transportationthat lawmakers have adopted since then to mask these diversions isillegal.”