BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2247|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2247
Author: Bonnie Lowenthal (D)
Amended: 6/26/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8 -0, 6/19/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Rubio, Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Kehoe
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/14/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public transportation: offenses
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
DIGEST : This bill makes it a criminal infraction for a
person to sell any goods, merchandise, property, or
services in a public transportation system without the
express written consent of the system operator and adds
this violation to the list of violations which specified
transit districts may enforce through an alternative civil
infraction process.
ANALYSIS : Existing law makes it a criminal infraction
for a person to engage, among other things, in any of the
following activities in a vehicle or facility of any
transit district:
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Fare evasion.
Misuse of a transfer, pass, ticket, or token with the
intent to evade the payment of a fare.
Unauthorized use of a discount ticket or failure to
present acceptable proof of eligibility to use a discount
ticket.
Eating, drinking, or smoking in areas where the system
operator has prohibited those activities.
Expectorating.
Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, or roller
blading, except as necessary for utilization of the
transit facility by a bicyclist.
Playing sound equipment.
Willfully disturbing others by engaging in boisterous or
unruly behavior.
Carrying an explosive or acid, flammable liquid, or toxic
or hazardous material.
Urinating or defecating, except in a lavatory.
Willfully blocking the free movement of another person,
except for lawful first amendment activities.
In addition, existing law makes it a criminal infraction
for a person to sell or peddle any goods, merchandise,
property, or services on any property, facility, or vehicle
owned by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
or the Southern California Rapid Transit District without
the express written consent of the district.
Existing law allows the City and County of San Francisco
(operator of SFMuni), the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, the Southern California Regional
Rail Authority, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority, the Sacramento Regional Transit District, Long
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Beach Transit, Foothill Transit, the North County Transit
District, and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District to
establish an alternative civil infraction process for the
transit violations specified in the bullets above when they
are committed by adults within their systems.
This bill:
1. Makes it a criminal infraction for a person to sell or
peddle any goods, merchandise, property, or services on
the facilities, vehicles, or property of any public
transportation system without the express written
consent of the system operator.
2. Adds this violation to the list of violations which the
specified transit districts may enforce through an
alternative civil infraction process.
3. Allows an issuing officer to correct errors on and
reissue a notice of violation for any of the civil
offenses.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/2/12)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (source)
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Committee
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/2/12)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill seeks to give transit passengers a more peaceful
ride by clearing platforms and stations of aggressive and
unlicensed vendors, many of whom sell counterfeit and other
illegal products. The Los Angeles County Transit Services
Bureau deputies receive frequent complaints from transit
operators and from patrons who deal with the annoyances
caused by unauthorized vendors during their daily commute.
These habitual offenders often sell consumable items, such
as food and drinks, but more often non-consumable items,
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such as batteries, flowers, pirated DVDs, and music CDs.
The consumable products can present a public safety
concern, while the counterfeit non-consumable items are
illegal to possess or sell. Moreover, these sales
negatively impact small businesses that play by the rules.
This bill gives deputies of any transit system the ability
to cite persons for illegal vending. By allowing those
transit agencies who have the authority under current law
to issue civil infractions to include this violation within
their programs, the bill also will prevent adding to
caseloads in our already overburdened court system. The
bill also makes a technical change to the statutes relating
to the civil citation program generally to allow an issuing
officer to correct errors on and reissue a notice of
violation.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that vending on
a transit system does little harm to society and that our
court system should not be besieged by "thousands of cases
each year for offering to sell a rose to someone on a bus -
even if there is a willing purchaser." They believe that
the bill effectively creates a license requirement without
any means of equal application, which will result in
violations of first amendment free speech rights.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/14/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Fletcher, Norby, Perea, Valadao
JJA:d 7/2/12 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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