BILLS AIM TO BRING TRANSIT FUNDS HOME.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, is optimistic two bills aimed at bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars to city governments will pass Thursday out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Assembly Bill 1425, authored by Runner, and Assembly Bill 1612, co-authored by Runner, both scheduled to be heard in a do-or-die session Thursday, would shift some transportation money from the state to local government.

``The overall theme we are working on is to get the money down to the locals,'' Runner said. ``Caltrans is incredibly slow in getting projects out the door. I know if can get dollars to the locals there will be projects in the ground in 12 months.''

AB 1425 re-establishes a flow of federal dollars to local governments that was lost last year when Congress revamped transportation funding. The bill is projected annually to return $50 million to local governments that now goes to the state transportation department.

AB 1612, co-authored by Assemblyman Dean Florez, D-Bakersfield, would take $300 million out of the state's highway account and give that money over a two-year period to counties and cities.

Runner said he is working with large urban transportation agencies, such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to help push AB 1425 out of the committee.

Runner doesn't know exactly how much of that money would end up in Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita, but said he expects it would be several hundreds of thousands for each city.

AB 1612 would provide funding to cities on a per-capita basis. The funding works out to roughly $5 a resident. Santa Clarita would gain about $735,000, Lancaster $625,000, and Palmdale $600,000.

Florez and Runner are working down two paths to gain the funding. Besides working AB 1612, the two assemblymen have gotten the funding included in the Assembly's version of the state budget.

``When you've got extra money you need to invest in infrastructure,'' Runner said.