BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 413|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 413
Author: Wieckowski (D)
Amended: 9/3/15
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 4/28/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner,
Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 9/8/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public transit: prohibited conduct
SOURCE: California Transit Association
DIGEST: This bill adds violations to the list of activities
that are infractions related to transit operators, as well as
includes minors as potential violators of all existing
infractions.
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Page 2
Assembly Amendments reclassify the peddling of goods as a Tier 1
offense, require governing boards to pass an ordinance before
adding failure to yield a seat to elderly or disabled persons to
the list of offenses, and include chaptering amendments.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Makes it an infraction for someone who is not a minor to
engage in a number of activities in a vehicle or facility of
any transit district, with varying fines and penalties
assigned to each tier of infraction, including:
a)Tier 1 (up to $250 fine and community service)
Eating, drinking, or smoking in areas where the
system operator has prohibited those activities.
Disturbing another person by loud or unreasonable
noise.
Expectorating.
Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, or
roller blading, except as necessary for utilization of
the transit facility by a bicyclist.
The sale or peddling of goods, merchandise,
property, or services without written consent if the
public transportation system has prohibited those acts.
a)Tier 2 (up to $400 fine and community service or jail time)
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
SB 413
Page 3
present acceptable proof of eligibility to use a discount
ticket.
This bill:
1)Includes minors as potential violators of all delineated
infractions.
2)Specifies that the "unreasonably loud noise" infraction
includes playing sound equipment on or in a system facility or
vehicle, or failing to comply with the warning of a transit
official concerning disturbing others with loud noise.
3)Adds failing to yield seating reserved for an elderly or
disabled person to the list of Tier 1 infractions if the
governing board of the public transportation agency enacts an
ordinance to that effect.
Comments
Purpose. According to the author, this bill improves transit
agencies' enforcement of specified prohibited acts and thereby
improves overall transit service. This bill does this by
clarifying existing law to provide parity for what constitutes
violations, allowing transit agencies to use administrative
penalties to cite and process minors, and by adding a violation
in line with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Why include minors? Existing law allows transit operators to
levy administrative penalties against adults who have committed
certain violations on their systems, but sends minors who commit
these violations through the judicial system. When San
Francisco originally sought the authority to levy administrative
penalties for these violations, it intentionally did not apply
this new process to minors because it thought the threat of a
juvenile record might act as a deterrent to the minors. This
has not been the case, unfortunately, and now transit operators
want to subject minors to an administrative process for
resolving violations in the same manner as adults, removing them
from the criminal process and reducing the overall pressure on
the state's stressed court system. This bill accomplishes this
aim.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
has potential nonreimbursable costs to public transit operators
for enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/8/15)
California Transit Association (source)
Free MUNI for Youth Coalition
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
Solano County Transit
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/8/15)
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Youth Law Center
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 9/8/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu,
Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, 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: Travis Allen, Chávez
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Prepared by:Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
9/8/15 21:12:02
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