New Developments in California Transportation Financing

March.09.2010

On February 24, 2010, Orrick public finance partners Roger Davis and Mary Collins, Orrick senior associate Brooke Abola, and the California Transportation Financing Authority's (CTFA) Acting Executive Director, Rohima Moly, led a teleconference on new developments in California Transportation Financing, including the following laws:

SB 83
Authorizes county-wide transportation planning agencies, with the approval of a majority of voters in the county, to direct the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect a supplemental $10 vehicle license fee (VLF) to fund local congestion-reduction projects.
AB798
Creates the California Transportation Financing Authority (CTFA). The CTFA is authorized to assist in financing improvements to the state transportation system that meet state environmental impact reduction goals by issuing bonds backed by local transportation revenue. Such revenue streams include local transportation sales taxes, tolls (including new tolls approved by the CTFA), and the new VLF.
SBX2 4
Allows regional transportation authorities in conjunction with the California Department of Transportation to use design-build or public-private partnership procurement methods for certain types of transportation projects.

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Roger Davis Partner

San Francisco Office

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Roger Davis Partner

San Francisco Office

Roger L. Davis is recognized nationwide as a leading public finance lawyer. In his more than 40-year career practicing public finance, Roger had a lead role in more than 1000 transactions in roughly 20 states and territories – as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, disclosure counsel, credit provider counsel, investor counsel and in other critical roles.

Roger was selected as one of seven public finance professionals, and the only lawyer, inducted in the inaugural class of The Bond Buyer Public Finance Hall of Fame in November 2022. Among the attributes that contributed to his honor were:

Recognized and sought out for his ability to apply his unusually extensive and diverse experience to solve problems as they arise and develop new programs or financial structures, and for his expertise and judgment in securities laws and disclosure.
Dedicated to helping bring about projects and programs (whether sponsored by public entities, nonprofit corporations or for-profit enterprises) that provide a public benefit and make people’s lives better.
Having led the development of the housing and healthcare practices at Orrick, his recent focus has been on governmental transactions, all manner of non-profit corporations, public private partnerships (P3), portfolio sales, securitizations, energy and water efficiency programs, pool programs, new financial structures and programs and applications of Public Finance Authority (created in Wisconsin to finance any type of project or program in any state).
Some of those new financial structures and programs have included pension obligation bonds, variable rate lease financing, and, more recently, joint powers authority ownership structure (turning private activity projects or projects not generally eligible for tax-exempt financing into governmental purpose bonds; for example, for middle income workforce housing), and infrastructure as a service (P3, simplifying procurement, off balance sheet).
Responsibility for legislation crucial to the scope and operation of California public finance, including California Health Facility Financing Authority, California School Finance Authority, changes to joint power authority law that helped propel California Statewide Communities Development Authority and California Municipal Finance Authority into two of the most prolific issuers in the country, local agency refunding law, authorizations for swaps, investment agreements and other derivative products, creation of security interests, streamlining validation actions, and in several other states including Hawaii and creation of Public Finance Authority in Wisconsin.
Chair of Orrick’s Public finance department for several decades through 2020, during which he presided over the growth of the department from one office with 12 lawyers in San Francisco to 10 offices and over 100 lawyers and paralegals around the country, consistently ranked (for more than 2 decades now) as number one bond counsel and disclosure counsel, and within the top four underwriter counsel, for bonds issued by state and local governments throughout the United States. During this period, he also held a number of other leadership positions at Orrick, including several terms on its Executive Committee and on the Management Committee of Orrick’s wholly owned subsidiary, BLX Group, LLC (providing the public finance community with a variety of non-legal services).

In addition to his selection by The Bond Buyer for its Public Finance Hall of Fame, Roger has been recognized by the American Lawyer as Dealmaker of the Year (twice), as “best,” “super,” “most honored,” “preeminent” or “lawyer of the year” by several other publications, ranked by Acritas as an Acritas Star Lawyer, and declared “the Bond King” in a cover article by California Lawyer.

Mary Collins Senior Counsel, 公共融資

San Francisco Office

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Mary Collins Senior Counsel

San Francisco Office

Mary Collins, senior counsel in the San Francisco office, is a member of the Public Finance Department. She chairs the firm’s Transportation Finance Group.

Mary represents counties, cities, school districts and transit districts in the State of California, including the County of Alameda, the County of Santa Clara, the County of San Mateo, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), the San Diego County Regional Transportation Commission (SANDAG), the Bay Area Toll Authority and the San Diego Unified School District.

Mary acted as bond counsel in numerous bond, certificates of participation and lease revenue bond financings and tax and revenue anticipation note financings for counties and other public entities. The new Eastern Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, BART extensions to the San Francisco and Oakland International Airports, and toll road financings in San Diego and Riverside Counties are among the numerous projects she has assisted in financing.

Mary is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars given by trade and professional organizations within the municipal finance industry.

Before joining Orrick, Mary was an associate in the Bond Department at Chapman & Cutler in Chicago.