BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 951|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 951
Author: Lieu (D), et al
Amended: 8/31/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/16/09
AYES: Padilla, Benoit, Calderon, Corbett, Cox, Kehoe,
Lowenthal, Simitian, Strickland, Wiggins, Wright
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 7/7/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/14/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Charter-party carriers
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill increases the range of various fines
the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) can impose on
charter-party carriers who knowingly violate state laws and
PUC regulations.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/31/09 (1) make the enactment
of this bill contingent upon the enactment of AB 636
(Jones) which also deals with charter-party carriers, and
(2) add Assemblymember Jones as a co-author.
ANALYSIS : The Passenger Charter-Party Carriers' Act
CONTINUED
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(Act), with certain exceptions, prohibits a charter-party
carrier of passengers from engaging in transportation
services subject to regulation by the PUC without obtaining
a specified certificate or permit, as appropriate, from the
PUC. The Act imposes a maximum fine of not more than
$1,000 in its general penalty provision for any violation
or failure to comply with the Act, an order or other
requirement of the PUC, or an operating permit or
certificate, or aiding and abetting such a violation. The
Act also imposes maximum fines, and in certain cases,
minimum fines for specific violations of the Act,
including, for conviction of operating a charter-party
carrier of passengers or a taxicab without a valid
certificate or permit, a maximum mandatory fine of $2,500
for a first conviction, or $5,000 for a subsequent
conviction.
This bill:
1.Increases the civil penalty from a maximum of $5,000 to
$7,500.
2.Increases the reinstatement fee from $125 to $1,000.
3.Increases the civil penalty, for a charter-party carrier
operating with a suspended certificate or permit, from a
range of $1,000 to $5,000 to a range of $1,500 to $7,500
per each day of operation.
4.Changes the fine, for a charter-party carrier who
violates or fails to comply with PUC laws and
regulations, from a maximum of $1,000 to a range of
$1,000 to $5,000.
5.Increases the maximum fine from $1,000 to $2,500 for
every charter-party carrier who continues to display any
identifying symbol other than the PUC symbol, and who
fails to remove an identifying symbol when required by
the PUC.
6.Increases the maximum fine, from $1,000 to $2,000, on
every corporation or person other than a charter-party
carrier who violates state laws or PUC regulations
regulating charter-party carriers.
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7.Changes the maximum fine a court may impose following a
conviction for operating as a charter-party carrier
without a certificate or permit from $1,500 to $10,000
for a first conviction and from $5,000 to $25,000 for a
second and for subsequent convictions. Current law
allows a maximum fine of $100,000 for a third and
subsequent convictions.
Charter-party carries furnish limousines-for-hire or
passenger charter transportation service in motor vehicles.
Charter-party carriers do not include vehicles on a set
schedule or between fixed termini, taxi cabs, car rentals,
or a city bus. Typical charter-party carriers provide
different sized vehicles to take a scheduled group of
people to another location and/or back. The group would
usually reserve the vehicle as a group, and would not
reserve a "seat" individually.
This bill is contingent upon the passage of AB 636 (Jones).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Annual increase in fine/penalty revenue, which goes to the
General Fund. Given that current revenues are about
$100,000, revenues could increase to between $200,000 and
$500,000 annually.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/09)
California Bus Association (source)
Greater California Livery Association
Hmong Women's Heritage Association
Public Utilities Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
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Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Fuentes, Gaines, Saldana, Smyth
DLW:cm 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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