BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: AB 2777
          SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN               AUTHOR:  Trans. Com.  

                                                         VERSION: 6/17/10
          Analysis by: Mark Stivers                      FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date: June 29, 2010








          SUBJECT:

          Transportation omnibus bill

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill makes non-controversial changes to sections of law  
          relating to transportation.

          ANALYSIS:

          According to the Legislative Analyst, the cost of producing a  
          bill in 2001-02 was $17,890.  By combining multiple matters into  
          one bill, the Legislature can make minor changes to law in the  
          most cost-effective manner.

           This bill  includes the following provisions.  The sponsor of  
          each provision is noted in brackets.

          1.Deleting obsolete reporting requirements.  [Sections 1, 2, 3,  
            4, 11, and 12]  Current law includes a number of reporting  
            requirements and an advisory committee that are no longer  
            relevant.  This bill deletes the following obsolete  
            requirements.  [Assembly Committee on Accountability and  
            Administrative Review]

                 A requirement that the California Highway Patrol submit  
               a risk assessment of California transportation's system to  
               the Legislature by January 1, 2003.  
                 A requirement that the Department of Transportation  
               (Caltrans) establish an advisory committee to develop  
               recommendations on ways to upgrade and modernize Caltrans'  




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               data automation system to better track project delivery.  
                 A requirement that the California Transportation  
               Commission report to the Legislature by September 1, 2002,  
               on the impact of adding an advance project development  
               element to the State Transportation Improvement Program.  
                 A requirement that the California Transportation  
               Commission report to the Legislature on or before February  
               1, 1999, on the success of SB 45 (Kopp, Chapter 622,  
               Statutes of 1997) related to transportation financing.  
                 A requirement that DMV submit an annual consolidated  
               report to the Legislature regarding the revenues and  
               expenditures related to special interest license plates for  
               state agencies.     
                 A requirement that DMV submit an annual consolidated  
               report to the Legislature regarding the revenues and  
               expenditures related to special interest license plates for  
               non-profit organizations.     

          1.CTFA vote threshold.  [Section 5]  AB 798 (Nava), Chapter 474,  
            Statutes of 2009, established the California Transportation  
            Financing Authority (CTFA) to assist transportation agencies  
            in obtaining financing, primarily through issuing bonds backed  
            by specified sources of revenue, to develop transportation  
            projects.  The CTFA board consists of seven members: five  
            ex-officio members and one member each appointed by the  
            Assembly Speaker and Senate Rules Committee.  AB 798  
            established a quorum as four members and requires a vote of a  
            quorum to approve any action.  Consistent with all of the  
            other boards and commissions housed within the Treasurer's  
            Office, this bill instead requires a majority vote of present  
            members to approve an action after a quorum has been  
            established.  [Rohimah Moly, State Treasurer's Office]

          2.Grammatical corrections.  [Section 6]  Legislative Counsel has  
            identified some grammatical errors in a section of law  
            proscribing transit-related crimes.  The amendments correct  
            these errors.  [Legislative Counsel]

          3.Correcting a cross-reference relating to ambulance drivers.   
            [Section 7] Current law establishes the pull-notice system,  
            which provides the employer of a driver who drives a specified  
            type of vehicle, including an ambulance driver, with a report  
            showing the driver's current public record and any subsequent  
            convictions, driver's license revocations, failures to appear,  
            accidents, driver's license suspensions, driver's license  
            revocations, or any other actions taken against the driving  




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            privilege. With respect to ambulance drivers, current law  
            cross-references the incorrect section.  The bill corrects the  
            mistaken cross-reference.  [Avery Browne, California Highway  
            Patrol]

          4.Disabled license plates.  [Sections 8 and 14]  Current law  
            requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue  
            special license plates to disabled persons and disabled  
            veterans.  Current law also allows a disabled person or  
            disabled veteran displaying such a plate to park for unlimited  
            periods in time-restricted spaces and for free at metered  
            spaces.  This bill clarifies that disabled persons license  
            plates and disabled veterans license plates may only be issued  
            for motor vehicles, as opposed to vehicles, a term which  
            includes trailers.    [Dennis Clear, Department of Motor  
            Vehicles]

          5.Commemorative license plates.  [Sections 9 and 10]  Current  
            law authorizes DMV to issue both commemorative Olympic license  
            plates and commemorative collegiate license plates.  This bill  
            clarifies that DMV may issue Olympic and commemorative  
            collegiate license plates as environmental (or "vanity")  
            license plates, displaying numbers and letters requested by  
            the vehicle owner.  [Dennis Clear, Department of Motor  
            Vehicles]

          6.Apportionately registered fleet vehicles.  [Section 13]   
            Current law requires DMV to apportionately register and tax  
            commercial vehicles that are based in other states or  
            countries and that use California highways.  DMV may make  
            these apportionment calculations on a fleetwide basis and may  
            place a lien upon all the vehicles of the fleet if the taxes  
            are not paid.  If a fleet owner contests the amount or  
            existence of a lien, DMV must issue its findings, and the  
            fleet owner then has 20 days to request an administrative  
            hearing.  This bill conforms California law to federal law by  
            allowing commercial vehicle fleet owners 30 days, rather than  
            the current 20 days, to request an administrative hearing of a  
            fleet apportionment lien.  [Dennis Clear, Department of Motor  
            Vehicles]

          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose of the bill  . The Assembly Transportation Committee is  
            authoring this bill as a means of combining multiple,  
            non-controversial changes to statutes into one bill, so that  




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            the Legislature can make minor amendments in a cost-effective  
            manner.  There is no known opposition to any item in the bill,  
            and if concerns arise that cannot be resolved, the provision  
            of concern will be deleted from the bill.

           2.Technical amendments  .  

                 Delete Section 4 of the bill relating to the CTC's  
               report on SB 45.
                 On page 8, line 32 after the period insert  
               "Additionally, the authority may not take any action unless  
               a quorum is present at the time of the vote."
                 On page 9, line 6 strike "a" and insert "an"
                 On page 9, line 7, strike the first "a" and insert "an"
                 On page 10, line 1 strike "(f)" and insert "(g)"
                 Delete Sections 11 and 12 of the bill relating to DMV  
               reports on special interest license plates.
                 Add chaptering amendments to resolve conflicts with AB  
               1648 and AB 1944

          Assembly Votes:
               Floor:    74-0
               Appr: 17-0
               Trans:    13-0

          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the Committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,
                     June 23, 2010)

               SUPPORT:  None received.
          
               OPPOSED:  None received.