BILL ANALYSIS
AB 508
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 508 (Torlakson) - As Amended: April 15, 2009
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:9-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the DMV, when issuing a provisional driver
license, to impose, until January 1, 2014, an additional fee to
generate revenue to fund driver education and training (DEAT)
programs at public schools and to support the activities of a
related advisory group. Specifically, this bill:
1)Imposes a $10 fee, in addition to the current $27 fee, on the
issuance of provisional driver licenses, deposits net revenue
from the new fee into the newly-created Young Driver Education
and Safety (YDES) Fund, and earmarks these funds for support
of the newly-established YDES Advisory Group and for grants to
schools to increase DEAT programs.
2)Requires the YDES Fund Advisory Group to recommend strategies
to improve access to DEAT, evaluate the effectiveness of
current DEAT standards, recommend improvements in order to
reduce the teen driver fatality rate, and make recommendations
regarding private, Internet-based driver education schools.
3)Requires the YDES Fund Advisory Group, by January 1, 2013, to
report to DMV, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and
the chairs of the relevant policy committees in each house of
the Legislature on the above information and recommendations.
4)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to administer
a grant process to enhance DEAT programs at public schools,
with priority given to schools with a high percentage of
low-income students.
FISCAL EFFECT
AB 508
Page 2
1)Moderate one-time costs, in the range of $200,000 in 2009-10,
to the DMV to develop the collection and remittance process
for the new $10 fee on provisional driver licenses. These
costs are reimbursed from a portion of revenue generated by
the fee. (Motor Vehicle Account (MVA).)
2)Minor ongoing costs, in the range of $75,000 annually from
2009-10 through 2013-14 to collect and remit the $10 fee.
These costs are covered from a portion of revenue generated by
the fee. (MVA.)
3)Moderate ongoing costs, in the range of $160,000 in 2009-10
through 2012-13, to support the activities of the YDES Fund
Advisory Group. These costs are covered by a portion of
revenue generated by the fee. (YDES Fund)
4)Minor costs, about $110,000 annually from 2009-10 through
2013-14, to the SDE to develop and administer the DEAT grant
program. These costs are covered by a portion of revenue
generated by the fee.
5)Moderate revenue, in the range of $800,000 in 2009-10, $2.2
million from 2010-11 through 2012-13, and $1.1 million in
2013-14, generated by the new $10 fee on provisional driver
licenses. (YDES Fund.)
6)Moderate costs, about $500,000 million in 2009-10, and $1.8
million from 2009-10 through 2012-13, to provide grants to
schools to enhance DEAT programs. (YDES Fund.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends more resources are needed to
address the proportionately high teen driver fatality rate,
especially among males and among teens in low-income
households and communities. Though the teen driver fatality
rate has declined in recent years in California, it is still
dramatically higher than the fatality rate for any other age
group of California-licensed drivers. The author believes
bringing back comprehensive DEAT programs in public high
schools, especially in low-income communities, would be one of
the most effective options in the struggle to bring teen
AB 508
Page 3
driver fatality rates down.
2)Background . DMV's provisional license program places several
restrictions on the driving privileges of persons under 18
years of age. At 15, a person who meets certain training
requirements can apply to DMV for an instruction permit.
During the permit period, the person may operate a motor
vehicle only when accompanied by, and under the immediate
supervision of a licensed adult. After this initial period,
the teen driver may be issued a provisional driver license
that restricts the time and conditions under which the driver
is allowed to operate a motor vehicle.
DMV annually issues 216,000 provisional driver licenses, and
imposing an additional $10 fee on each license issued would
annually generate about $2.2 million. In the United States,
motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for
teenagers between 15 and 20 years old. While less than 6% of
California-licensed drivers are teenagers, they accounted for
21% of California traffic fatalities from 2002 to 2004.
3)Driver Training Penalty Assessment Fund . This fund was
established to reimburse the GF for school district cost to
provide DEAT programs. The source of revenues to this fund is
a portion of penalty assessments imposed on drivers for
various moving violations. In recent years, annual budget acts
have redirected a portion of these revenues to the
Victim-Witness Assistance Fund, the Peace Officers' Training
Fund, and the General Fund for other purposes.
4)Fiscal issue . If grants were provided to each of California's
1,182 high schools, the average grant amount would be only
$1,500 compared to the roughly $40,000 annual cost of
providing the program. If grants were provided to the 300 high
schools that need DEAT program funding the most, the average
grant would still only $6,000. While this bill provides grant
priority to high schools in low-income communities, its
unlikely a grant of this amount would have much of an impact
on a school's DEAT program unless it allocated to a relative
handful of schools - which would raise other equity problems
given that the fee would be levied on all provisional license
applicants.
5)Prior legislation . This bill is nearly identical to SB 1114
AB 508
Page 4
(Torlakson) from 2007-08, which died on this committee's
suspense file.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081