Transportation Chair Bonnie Lowenthal works with Republicans on jobs bill.

SACRAMENTO – “This is how things are supposed to work,” Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal said on learning the governor had signed her bill to bring 18,000 highway jobs through a $1.4 billion freeway project in Southern California.

“This is a win for everyone,” said Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee and joint author of AB 2098, which the governor signed over the weekend.

The bill clears away legal hurdles to a design-build improvement project on the Riverside (91) Freeway. The project, funded entirely without state general fund money, promises 18,000 jobs throughout the region. It also promises to speed the commutes of millions of motorists. The project will be built with local and federal money; state funds are not required.

Lowenthal shared a high-five by way of email with her Republican joint author, Assemblyman Jeff Miller, when the two learned the bill would become law.

“I was so happy to work with him,” she said.

Miller had initially introduced the bill, but nearly saw it die for lack of support because it  had drawn concern from state engineers wary of the specific plans for the project. Lowenthal used her position as chair of the Transportation Committee to bring both sides together to reach a compromise. Lowenthal, Miller and Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Riverside, rewrote the bill to reflect the compromise and made it a genuinely bipartisan bill.

“That’s 18,000 people earning paychecks,” said Lowenthal. “There’s nothing partisan about that.”

The bill received overwhelming support, and, because it was passed as an urgency measure, becomes law immediately rather than wait until January like most bills.

Contact: Will Shuck  (916) 319-2054