The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Local highway and transportation improvements and services are an immediate high priority needed to resolve local and regional transportation problems that threaten the economic viability and development potential of counties and cities and adversely impact the quality of life therein. Furthermore, regional transportation is a matter of statewide concern.

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(b) Comprehensive studies and reports have been completed by the Department of Transportation, the Assembly Office of Research, the Governor’s Task Force on Infrastructure, and the California Business Roundtable which conclude that there exists a local city street and county road maintenance backlog and shortfall of between five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) and eight hundred forty million dollars ($840,000,000) annually.

(c) In order to deal in an expeditious manner with current and future local transportation maintenance and improvement needs, local agencies need to develop and implement local funding programs that go significantly beyond current federal and state funding which is inadequate to resolve these problems.

(d) It is in the public interest to allow the voters of each county to establish local transportation authorities and raise additional local revenues to provide highway capital improvements and maintenance and to meet local transportation needs in a timely manner.

(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that funds generated pursuant to this division be used to supplement and not replace existing local revenues used for transportation purposes.

(Added by Stats. 1987, Ch. 786, Sec. 1.)