KCBS Insider Phil Matier is away today.

A bill to put a tax measure on the ballot to fund public transit agencies has died in the state legislature. While its sponsors plan to try again next year, it leaves several local transit agencies heading closer to a fiscal cliff. The bill aimed to raise $1.5 billion annually for up to 30 years.

For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Bret Burkhart and Patti Reising spoke with Garrett Leahy, who's a reporter for the San Francisco Standard, the Bay Area's fastest-growing news source.