P3 supporters in California recently got another chance to extend the state enabling law for highways when Gov. Jerry Brown called a special session of the legislature late this month to create a dedicated revenue source to address chronic highway maintenance deficits.

A P3 bill that died in the regular session has been reintroduced in the short session as AB 1 X2 by Assemblyman Henry Perea. It would extend the existing law indefinitely without changes. The existing law needs polishing, but has been litigated extensively with all rulings favorable to P3s. So it is viewed by experts as being a viable vehicle for procuring P3s.