BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 173|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 173
Author: Holden (D), et al.
Introduced:1/22/15
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/9/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/6/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Golf carts: City of La Verne
SOURCE: Hillcrest Retirement Community
University of La Verne
DIGEST: This bill deletes the sunset on the authority of the
City of La Verne to permit golf carts to be used on city
streets.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes cities or counties to adopt golf cart
transportation plans that do not include the use of any state
highway.
2)Specifies certain required elements in the golf cart
AB 173
Page 2
transportation plan, including minimum general design criteria
for the development, planning, and construction of separated
golf cart lanes.
3)Exempts the City of La Verne from the requirement for
separated golf cart lanes, under specified conditions, until
January 1, 2016.
This bill removes the January 1, 2016, sunset.
Comments
Purpose. The author notes that La Verne is home to the
University of La Verne as well as a large retirement community.
Because of the town's narrow roads and pathways, these
facilities began using golf carts as the primary means of
transportation between the non-contiguous portions of their
facilities in the 1970s. In 2008, the Legislature provided La
Verne with an exemption to the general statewide prohibition on
golf cart use on public roadways. The author states that the La
Verne Police Department has recorded no accidents or injuries
stemming from the use of golf carts on public roads by the
university or retirement community since the exemption has been
in effect.
Not widely used. La Verne has restricted the use of golf carts
to employees of the university and retirement communities. The
police chief of La Verne reports that the golf carts are not
frequently used and that he sees them on the street on a
less-than-daily basis.
Course change. The January 1, 2016, sunset on the use of golf
carts in the City of La Verne was intended to allow time for the
university and retirement communities to transition to safer
vehicles which meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
By eliminating the sunset, the City of La Verne will be
permanently allowed to permit the use of golf carts, a change in
the policy articulated in the original legislation. In support
of this policy change, the author's office notes that there have
been no accidents with the golf carts, a fact confirmed by the
La Verne police department.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
AB 173
Page 3
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/11/15)
Hillcrest Retirement Community (co-source)
University of La Verne (co-source)
City of La Verne Fire Department
City of La Verne Police Department
LeadingAge California
San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/11/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/6/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gomez, Roger Hernández
Prepared by:Randy Chinn / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
6/12/15 11:27:49
**** END ****
AB 173
Page 4