BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 697|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 697
Author: Hertzberg (D)
Amended: 9/3/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 11-0, 4/21/15
AYES: Hueso, Fuller, Cannella, Hertzberg, Hill, Lara, Leyva,
McGuire, Morrell, Pavley, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/4/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 36-0, 5/11/15
AYES: Allen, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill,
Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza,
Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan,
Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson, De León, Liu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 9/9/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public Utilities Commission Accountability Act of
2015: reports: audits: electrical restructuring:
charter-party carriers of passengers
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill repeals the requirement of the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to issue a decal to
charter-party carriers of passengers, extends the sunset date by
one year on the CPUC's authority to issue financing orders,
allows for the electronic filing of legislative reports, and
makes additional codifying and technical changes to the Public
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Utilities Code related to reporting requirements.
Assembly Amendments extend the sunset date by one year on the
CPUC's authority to issue financing orders and make numerous
changes to the Public Utilities Code to consolidate reporting
requirements and provide that reports to the Legislature or the
Governor can be submitted electronically by the agency.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the CPUC to regulate various transportation
services, including charter-party carriers of passengers,
defined as persons engaged in the transportation of persons by
motor vehicle for compensation on a prearranged basis over any
public highway in the state, with some exceptions, including
taxi cabs which are regulated by local agencies. (Public
Utilities Code, Chapter 8 §§§5351, 5360, 5353)
2)Requires a charter-party carrier to obtain from the CPUC a
permit or certificate to operate which establishes that the
person or corporation is financially and organizationally
capable to conduct the transportation service, including
complying with all applicable laws and regulations. (Public
Utilities Code §§ 5371 & 5374)
3)Requires a charter-party carrier to display a distinctive
identifying symbol, in the form prescribed by the CPUC,
showing the classification to which the carrier belongs.
(Public Utilities Code §5385)
4)Requires the CPUC to issue specified decals for charter-party
carrier vehicles designed to carry not more than eight
passengers, including the driver, and who have a valid permit
or certificate from the CPUC. The decal shall be a minimum
size of two and half inches by six inches and affixed to the
lower right hand corner of the rear bumper. (Public Utilities
Code §5385.5)
5)Requires numerous reports by the CPUC to provide an annual
report to the Legislature and numerous other issues relating
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to the California Advanced Services Fund, Renewable Portfolio
Standard, water-related reporting, and many others.
This bill:
1)Repeals the provision of the law requiring the CPUC to issue
specified decals for charter-party carrier vehicles designed
to carry not more than eight passengers, including the driver.
2)Extends the sunset date by one year on the CPUC's authority to
issue financing orders from 2015 to 2016.
3)Allows reports submitted to the Legislature or the Governor to
be submitted electronically, unless specifically requested to
submit a printed copy, as specified.
4)Consolidates and makes technical changes to the Public
Utilities Code relating to reporting requirements.
Background
Decals. SB 611 (Hill, Chapter 860, Statutes of 2014) addresses
safety issues related to modified limousines. Among its
provisions, the bill repealed sections of the Public Utilities
Code that provided for special "livery" license plates issued by
the Department of Motor Vehicles, which were used in lieu of
requiring decals on these vehicles. (Public Utilities Code
§5385.6 (d) noted that the "special license plate shall be in
lieu of the decal required to be issued and displayed pursuant
to §5385.5.") As a result, the requirement to issue decals is
now effective for limousines serving eight or less passengers,
vehicles that are required to be registered with the CPUC.
However, the CPUC is not producing these decals, nor has it
issued these decals in two decades. For the time being, the CPUC
has issued a "Temporary Acknowledgement of Vehicle Added Letter"
to be kept in the permitted vehicle at all times. The CPUC has
informed these vehicle owners/operators that the decals are not
currently in production, but will be issued to the drivers once
in production. The CPUC already requires charter-party carriers
to display a distinctive identifying symbol prescribed by the
CPUC based on classification. Examples of these symbols include:
Transportation Charter Party (TCP) identification number along
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the bumper of limousine vehicles, or identifying symbols as
filed by each Transportation Network Companies.
Consolidated reports. This bill makes technical changes to the
Public Utilities Code by consolidating and clarifying statutory
reporting requirements under one section of the Public Utilities
Code. The CPUC is required by statute to prepare and publish
numerous reports on a wide range of subjects within the Public
Utilities Code. Consolidating report requirements into one
section of the code will provide for better tracking and
compliance. Additional amendments allow for electronic
transmission of reports in lieu of more costly hard copy
deliveries.
One-year extension on sunset for financing orders. According to
the CPUC, the one-year extension is needed to allow the CPUC to
assess whether the expiration of the authority will have undue
harm on ratepayers, including its ability to issue financing
orders or enter into agreements with the Department of Water
Resources.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
will have potential minor savings up to $30,000 to the CPUC
Transportation Reimbursement
SUPPORT: (Verified9/9/15)
California Public Utilities Commission
Greater California Livery Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/9/15)
None received
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The CPUC suggests this is a simple
cleanup of the code to capture the intent of the changes in SB
611 (Hill, 2014). They argue that when SB 611 was being
considered last year there was widespread belief amongst the
parties that the "decal" required in Public Utilities Code
Section 5385.5 was synonymous with the distinctive identifying
symbols, specifically the TCP identification, prescribed by
Public Utilities Code §5385. The CPUC states that the reporting
changes in this bill are to help consolidate and make more
transparent the numerous reports the agency is required to
provide the Legislature or Governor. The changes providing
electronic copies of these reports in lieu of hard copy will
save paper and reduce costs with printing and shipping. The
extension of the sunset date by one year on the CPUC's authority
to issue financing orders will provide the agency additional
time to work with the Department of Water Resources to assess
whether the expiration of the authority will unduly harm
ratepayers.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 9/9/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, 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,
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: Dababneh, Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:Nidia Bautista / E., U., & C. / (916) 651-4107
9/9/15 20:56:13
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