BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 564 (Cannella) - Vehicles: school zone fines
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|Version: February 26, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 11 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: April 27, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 564 would establish an additional $35 fine for
specified traffic violations that occur in a school zone posted
with specified signage. The fine revenues would be deposited
into the State Highway Account to fund school zone safety
projects within the Active Transportation Plan (ATP).
Fiscal
Impact:
Minor one-time costs to the Administrative Office of the
Courts to program the new Vehicle Code violation adding a $35
fine to specified offenses committed in a school zone (Trial
Court Trust Fund).
SB 564 (Cannella) Page 1 of
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Minor costs to the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
related to the administration of additional funds deposited
for use in the ATP (State Highway Account).
Unknown revenue gains related to the imposition of additional
fines (State Highway Account, for use on school safety
projects in the ATP).
Background: Existing law establishes a speed limit of 25 mph when
approaching or passing a school building or school grounds.
This speed limit applies where the highway is posted with a
standard "SCHOOL" sign and under the following circumstances:
while children are entering or exiting during school hours or
the noon recess period, or while the school grounds are in use
by children and the grounds are not separated from the highway
by a fence, gate, or other physical barrier. This sign may be
posted at any distance up to 500 feet away from school grounds.
If a local authority conducts a traffic survey and determines
that the 25 mph speed limit in a particular school zone is too
high to be reasonably safe, the prima facie speed limit may be
reduced to either 20 or 15 mph, as deemed appropriate by the
survey.
Proposed Law:
SB 564 would impose an additional $35 fine on drivers who
commit specified Vehicle Code offenses when a highway is posted
with both a standard "SCHOOL" warning sign and an accompanying
sign notifying motorists that increased penalties apply for
traffic violations that are committed within that school zone,
and under either of the following conditions:
When passing a school building or school grounds
contiguous to a highway while children are entering or
exiting during school hours or during the noon recess
period.
When passing school grounds that are not separated from
a highway by a fence, gate, or barrier while the grounds
are in use by children.
Revenues from the additional fines authorized by this bill would
be deposited in the State Highway Account for funding school
zone safety projects within the ATP.
SB 564 (Cannella) Page 2 of
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Related
Legislation: SB 1151 (Cannella), which was vetoed by Governor
Brown in 2014, is nearly identical to this bill. The veto
message included the following statement:
Increasing traffic fines as the method to pay
transportation fund activities is a regressive increase
that affects poor people disproportionately. Making safety
improvements in school zones is obviously important, but
not by increasing traffic fines.
Staff
Comments: The 2013-14 budget agreement consolidated several
existing federal and state transportation funding programs,
including the Transportation Alternatives Program, the Bicycle
Transportation Account, and the Safe Routes to Schools Program,
and created the ATP to encourage increased use of active modes
of transportation, such as biking and walking. The California
Transportation Commission (CTC) adopted an initial fund estimate
to allocate $368 million in state and federal funds over a three
year cycle from 2013-14 through 2015-16. The CTC recently
adopted a 2015 ATP fund estimate, which anticipates allocations
of approximately $360 million in state and federal funds over
the following three years (2016-17 through 2018-19).
Staff notes that the additional fines specified in the bill
would only be imposed to the extent the roadway is posted with
the standard "SCHOOL" warning sign and additional signage
notifying motorists that increased penalties apply for traffic
violations committed within that school zone. The bill does not
require local jurisdictions or Caltrans to install these
additional notification signs. The magnitude of additional
revenues from the imposition of the additional $35 fine is
indeterminable and dependent upon the number of zones that are
ultimately posted with increased penalty notification signage
and the level of enforcement in those zones. Caltrans indicates
that any staffing costs associated with administering additional
revenues for school zone safety projects through the ATP would
be minor.
SB 564 (Cannella) Page 3 of
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