BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 406|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 406
Author: DeSaulnier (D)
Amended: 5/28/09
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 3-2, 4/15/09
AYES: Wiggins, Kehoe, Wolk
NOES: Cox, Aanestad
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 6-4, 4/28/09
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Huff, Ashburn, Harman, Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SUBJECT : Land use: environmental quality
SOURCE : California Association of Councils of
Governments
DIGEST : This bill authorizes regions to impose a one
dollar or two dollar surcharge on vehicle registrations to
pay for regional land use planning activities. This bill
makes changes to the membership and duties of the Office of
Planning and Research's Planning Advisory and Assistance
CONTINUED
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Council.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law establishes a basic vehicle registration fee
of $34, plus a $22 surcharge for additional personnel for
the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and authorizes local
agencies to impose separate vehicle registration fee
surcharges in their respective jurisdictions for a variety
of special programs, including:
1. One dollar for service authorities for freeway
emergencies.
2. One dollar for deterring and prosecuting vehicle theft.
3. Up to seven dollars for air quality programs.
4. One dollar for removing abandoned vehicles.
5. One dollar for fingerprint identification programs.
Existing law permits local agencies to form joint powers
agencies (JPAs). Cities and counties in regions have
exercised this authority to form JPAs called councils of
government (COGs) to implement regional planning activities
required under state law, including regional housing needs
assessments and regional transportation plans. COGs
generally serve as federally recognized metropolitan
planning organizations (MPOs) for transportation planning
purposes, although there are exceptions. For example, in
the nine-county San Francisco Bay region, the Association
of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is the COG that prepares the
regional housing needs assessment, but the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission (MTC) is the region's MPO.
SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, required
the Air Resources Board (ARB), by September 30, 2010, to
provide each region that has a MPO with a greenhouse gas
emission reduction target for the automobile and light
truck sector for 2020 and 2035, respectively. Each MPO, in
turn, is required to include within its regional
transportation plan (RTP) a sustainable communities
strategy (SCS) designed to achieve the ARB targets for
greenhouse gas emission reduction. If the SCS does not
achieve the reduction target, the MPO must prepare an
alternative planning strategy.
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This bill:
1. Allows an MPO, a COG, or a county transportation
commission and a subregional COG jointly preparing an
SCS to impose a surcharge of one or two dollars on
vehicles registered in its jurisdiction, upon adoption
of a resolution authorizing the surcharge as specified,
to fund the development and implementation of an SCS or
a regional blueprint plan to identify land use
strategies to reduce the use of motor vehicles and
thereby reduce emissions into the environment. The
regional entity shall adopt a resolution imposing the
surcharge, except that:
A. In the San Francisco Bay Area, both MTC and ABAG
shall have to adopt a resolution and agree how to
divide the revenue received.
B. In the jurisdiction of the Southern California
Association of Governments, both a county
transportation commission and a subregional COG
shall have to adopt a resolution and agree how to
divide the revenue received.
2. States the surcharge that exceeds one dollar, in a
jurisdiction with a population greater than 300,000,
shall be used to provide grants to cities and counties
for planning and projects related to implementation of a
regional blueprint plan.
3. Requires an agency imposing the vehicle fee to contract
with DMV to pay for initial setup and programming costs
identified by the department. These costs will be
reimbursed to the agency imposing the fee from surcharge
revenues collected.
4. Directs a regional entity imposing a surcharge to remit
five percent of all the revenue it derives from the
surcharge to the Planning Advisory and Assistance
Council to perform the functions specified.
5. Directs DMV to collect the surcharge, deduct its costs
of administering the surcharge, and transmit the
remaining revenue quarterly to the MPO, COG, or county
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transportation and subregional COG that imposed it.
Planning Advisory and Assistance Council (PAAC)
Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and
Research (OPR) within the governor's office as the state's
comprehensive planning agency, responsible for helping
local and regional officials with land use planning. State
law charges OPR with coordinating state agencies' planning
activities, including directing OPR to prepare every four
years a State Environmental Goals and Policies Report, a
20- to 30-year look ahead at state growth and development.
Existing law creates the Planning Advisory and Assistance
Council (PAAC) to assist OPR in various land-use planning
related activities, including development of the State
Environmental Goals and Policies Report. OPR's Director
appoints the PAAC members, which must include:
1. Three city representatives, nominated by the League of
California Cities.
2. Three county representatives, nominated by the
California State Association of Counties.
3. One representative from each of the regional planning
districts designated by OPR.
4. One representative of Indian tribes with reservations in
California.
Existing law creates the Strategic Growth Council,
consisting of:
1. Director of OPR.
2. Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
3. Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency.
4. Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency.
5. Secretary of the California Health and Human Services
Agency.
6. A public member, appointed by the Governor.
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The Strategic Growth Council coordinates the activities and
funding programs of its member state agencies to improve
air and water quality, improve natural resources
protection, increase the availability of affordable
housing, improve transportation, meet the state's
greenhouse gas emission goals, encourage sustainable land
use planning, and revitalize urban and community centers.
The council must recommend policies to the governor, state
agencies, and the Legislature to encourage the development
of sustainable communities and provide local governments
and regional agencies with data to assist in planning
sustainable communities.
This bill:
1. Changes the PAAC's membership to be:
A. Three city representatives, nominated by the
League of California Cities.
B. Three county representatives, nominated by the
California State Association of Counties.
C. Seven representatives of specified regional
planning organizations.
D. One member of the State Air Resources Board.
E. One member of the California Transportation
Commission.
F. One member of the California Energy Commission.
G. One member appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly.
H. One member appointed by the Senate Rules
Committee.
I. One representative of Indian tribes with
reservations in California.
2. Assigns the PAAC five new duties, as follows:
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A. Work with the Strategic Growth Council to
facilitate the implementation of regional blueprint
projects.
B. Facilitate coordination between regional
blueprint plans and state growth and infrastructure
funding plans by developing recommendations to
specified state agencies.
C. Receive reports, including the state's five-year
infrastructure plan.
D. Report to the Legislature on how state agencies
implement the state's planning priorities.
E. Report to the Legislature on regional
performance measures that evaluate each region
based on the PAAC's criteria for improving the
regions' employment, environmental protection,
education, housing, and mobility.
F. Directs the PAAC to start performing these new
duties when it receives sufficient funding from
MPOs, COGs, or county transportation commissions
and subregional councils of government jointly
preparing an SCS.
G. Directs the Strategic Growth Council in
performing its duties to consult with the PAAC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
DMV programming $300-$400*$100*Special*
& admin
Maximum local assessments
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($62,728)($62,728) Local**
(revenue gain)
PAAC new duties all costs covered by five percent
allocation of fees collected
* Motor Vehicle Account (as proposed to be amended, first
year costs covered by imposing agency through contract with
DMV; ongoing costs deducted from fee revenues)
** Staff notes that the local assessment revenue gain shown
here is based upon approval of the assessment in every
region in the state. Actual revenues will depend upon the
number of entities approving an assessment and the number
of vehicles registered in those areas. For purposes of
example, if only the Association of Bay Area Governments
(with 6,061,374 fee-paid vehicle registrations) approved an
assessment of $2, annual local revenues would be
$12,122,748 with five percent of these revenues ($606,137)
transferred to PAAC to cover costs related to duties
imposed by this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/29/09)
California Association of Councils of Governments (source)
Association of Bay Area Governments
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
California League of Conservation Voters
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/29/09)
California New Car Dealers Association
California Taxpayers Association
Orange County Division of the League of Cities
San Diego Association of Governments
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office notes that SB
375 (Steinberg) Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, requires
that each MPO and COG develop an SCS reflecting preferred
land uses as part of its regional transportation plan. The
SCS will build on regional blueprints already being
prepared in these regions. Regional blueprints are the
result of voluntary cooperative efforts by cities and
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counties in a region to develop a coordinated and
integrated approach to land use planning. Regional
blueprints seek to address the following: mobility,
congestion, transit use, infill development, housing
supply, and the presence of farmland and habitat in our
communities.
With California's population predicted to grow by 16
million over the next two decades, successfully
accommodating this growth depends upon the ability of
regional and local governments to attract development
projects that promote the goals of regional planning.
Regions and cities need state agencies to act in concert
with local officials to accomplish these goals and the
larger regional and state goals of improved quality of
life, air quality, and economic growth.
To successfully implement SB 375 and its required regional
transportation plans that will address greenhouse gas
emissions, regional and local governments need resources
for strategic planning and opportunities for coordination
with state agencies. The author's office introduced this
bill to provide those resources and the opportunity for
greater coordination.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California New Car Dealers
Association states that California motorists are already
overburdened with hidden vehicle fees. In addition to the
annual Vehicle License Fee, which will increase from 0.65
percent to 1.15 percent of a vehicle's value next month,
and annual $34 vehicle registration fees, vehicle owners
are also subject to "add-on" fees: one to seven dollars
annual air quality district fee, $20 smog abatement fee for
vehicles four model-years old or newer, one dollar annual
abandoned vehicle trust fee, $22 annual CHP fee; one dollar
annual freeway call box fee; one dollar annual theft
deterrence fee; one dollar annual fingerprint
identification fee; and, the one dollar.75 per tire
California tire fee. The dealers believe there continues
to be no reason to further increase the cost of vehicle
ownership in California, unless the voters within the
jurisdictions affected elect to tax themselves.
The San Diego Association of Governments opposes the bill
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because it would rather have the state impose a uniform fee
for the purpose of funding blueprint and SCS work.
AGB:do 5/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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