Some of us supported the transit tax election. Some of us did not. But ALL OF US support having a strong governance structure for our new transit system, where politics plays no role in decisions about transit.

HB 865 implements the Blue Ribbon Commission's recommendations for transit governance reform, bringing the CATS system into line with best practices for transit governance nationally, by removing politics from transit-related decisions and improving the criteria and selection process for prospective CATS' board members.

There are hundreds of transit boards around the country. Baton Rouge is THE ONLY TRANSIT SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY which has a divided governance structure, where the governing authority (Metro Council) appoints the board and then continues to exercise veto power over the decisions of that board. This divided governance structure has prevented CATS from making our transit system more efficient.

We're going to have a NEW transit system in Baton Rouge. Now we need a NEW governance structure, to make sure that system is accountable to the taxpayers who are funding it.