CA: LA Metro teams up with legislator proposing $20 billion transportation bond

With major rail, bus and bike trail projects in the works but not fully funded, LA Metro has relied on federal dollars to plug funding gaps.

But under the new Trump administration, that strategy may be a thing of the past.

So the transit agency serving a quarter of the state’s population and attempting to move more customers on transit to improve traffic conditions and reduce greenhouse gases, is joining with a rookie California state legislator to do something not done in 20 years: Put a transportation bond on the statewide November 2026 ballot.

The bond would raise $20 billion to help build rail projects, roadway overpasses, electric-vehicle charging stations and non-motorized transportation projects such as bikeways and walkways.

The idea was raised by Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Janice Hahn at a Metro committee meeting two months ago. It was picked up by Assemblymember Nick Schultz, D- Burbank, who introduced Assembly Bill 939 on Feb. 19.

Hahn said she was concerned several LA Metro rail projects would lose federal dollars due to a memo issued by Trump’s new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, that prioritized federal dollars for cities and counties with higher marriage and birth rates.

Hahn said this was a policy that “seemed to steer tax dollars away from the city and county of Los Angeles” and would affect projects that also get dollars from L.A. County voters who taxed themselves to build more rail and bus projects.

“At a time when there is concern about whether our most important transportation projects will get the federal funding they need and deserve, it makes sense to pursue a state bond for dollars we would have control over,” Hahn said.

Assembly Bill 939, the “Safe, Sustainable, Traffic-Reducing Transportation Bond Act of 2026” was born after Schultz, a former Burbank mayor elected to state office in November, met with LA Metro officials to help draft the bill.

AB 939 would make about $10 billion in capital available for local and regional rail projects. About $3.5 billion would be set aside for bike/pedestrian lanes and local street rehabilitation; $3 billion for electric cars, buses, vans, trolley cars, locomotives and hydrogen-powered vehicles; $2.5 billion for freight infrastructure in ports, rail yards and trucking depots; and $1 billion for bridges and other safety improvements.

“If there is a decrease in federal funding for capital projects, this is a bond that would have a little something for everybody around the state,” said Schultz on Friday, March 7, in an interview.

“There aren’t going to be new funding streams for transportation in the next decade, so this would do a lot of good,” he added. “We also think this is a job creator at a time when people are struggling in our economy with work leaving the state.”

AB 939 needs approval in the Assembly and the state Senate, and a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom in order to be placed on the statewide ballot. Then it would take a simple majority of votes to make it law.

The last transportation bond went before California voters when George W. Bush was president. The 2006 statewide transportation bond was initiated by the state Legislature and approved for the ballot by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Measure 1B  was approved by 61.4% of the voters on Nov. 7, 2006.

Schultz was forthcoming about the obstacles facing the bill in the legislature and then getting approval from a majority of California voters.

“It is the first time in awhile, and it is an ambitious ask — a $20 billion bond. That is a sizable one,” he said.

Schultz said the biggest challenge would be to get the bill through the legislature as it competes with other bond measures such as a $10 billion bond for affordable housing.

“We don’t know if we can afford both,” he said. “Sometimes in the state legislature, there is a reluctance to put too much on the ballot,” he explained. “But I’m not saying there isn’t room for both.”

Bonds are not taxes, but they are not free money. A bond measure involves the state selling bonds to be used, in this case for transportation projects, then paying them back with interest out of the state’s general fund over several years.

Joel Fox, a senior fellow at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Public Policy, said although California voters have often approved state bond measures, things may be changing.

Last November, Proposition 1 barely passed, despite heavy support from Gov. Newsom. It will rearrange the way cities and counties spend state dollars on homeless initiatives, emphasizing mental health services and housing programs.

Newsom may be moving to the center, especially if he makes a run for president in 2028, so he may want to appear more fiscally conservative, Fox said.

“He may not want to support a lot of heavy duty bonds on the next ballot,” he said. “If there are multiple bond measures, usually the governor would narrow the field on which ones get there.”

Schultz says the new bill is in the early stages and may go before the state Assembly Transportation Committee later this month. While it works its way through the process, he wants to build coalitions.

With LA Metro on board, the agency likely can send up a list of projects eligible for the state bond money. These could include the Southeast Gateway Line, a 19-mile light-rail line planned to go from L.A.’s Union Station to Artesia, which is in need of federal dollars. Also the East San Fernando Valley Light-Rail project down Van Nuys Boulevard is appealing for more federal money.

Move LA, a nonprofit advocating for better public transit, supports the bill.

“With the federal government threatening to pull back its investment in fast, frequent, and reliable mobility options that reduce traffic, it is more important than ever for California to invest in clean and safe transportation options,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA.

Schultz said part of the pitch will be to help California motorists ditch their internal combustion engine cars for electric ones. He said adding more public chargers would remove some of the hesitancy.

He believes more Californians want to do something about climate change after the devastating fires in Los Angeles County in January, which many scientists say were pushed by winds as a result of changes in climate conditions.

“I will be talking to legislators on both sides of the aisle,” Schultz said. “This is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue. I view this as bipartisan legislation.”

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