Committee approves bill letting Golden Gate Bridge district use conduit financing for seismic work

Senator Wiener presented SB 607, which would amend state law to give the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District authority similar to other public agencies to use conduit financing for long-term borrowing. Dennis Mulligan, the district's general manager, told the committee the agency issued a notice to proceed on "approximately a $1,000,000,000 undertaking to strengthen the 2 main towers and the side spans of the bridge," and said conduit financing would help the district complete subsequent phases of critical seismic retrofit work when federal funding and traffic revenues are uncertain.