BILL NUMBER: AB 2904	CHAPTERED  09/30/00

	CHAPTER   1033
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   MAY 18, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Insurance (Scott (Chair), Calderon,
Floyd, Gallegos, Keeley, Washington, and Wayne)

                        MARCH 14, 2000

   An act to add Sections 11629.731 and 11629.931 to the Insurance
Code, relating to automobile insurance, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2904, Committee on Insurance.    Low-cost automobile insurance.

   Existing law requires motorists to demonstrate financial
responsibility by one of various means, including an automobile
liability insurance policy.  Existing law requires certain insurers
to participate in a pilot program for the Counties of Los Angeles and
San Francisco to offer, until January 1, 2004, a low-cost automobile
insurance policy.  Existing law requires the low-cost policy to
provide lower limits for liability coverage than normally required,
and provides that the low-cost policy may only be purchased by
persons residing in those counties who meet eligibility requirements
relating to household income, age, and licensing and driving
experience.
   This bill would provide that a person who meets the income
requirements and who claims that he or she meets the licensing and
driving experience requirements of the pilot program based entirely
or partially on experience obtained outside the United States or
Canada shall be entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she
is qualified to purchase a policy under the pilot program if he or
she has been licensed to drive pursuant to a license obtained in the
United States or Canada for at least the previous 18 months and meets
the licensing and driving experience criteria for that time period.

   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 11629.731 is added to the Insurance Code, to
read:
   11629.731.  A person who meets the requirements of subdivision (a)
of Section 11629.73, and who claims that he or she meets the
requirements of subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive, of Section
11629.73 based entirely or partially on a driver's license and
driving experience obtained other than in the United States or
Canada, shall be entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she
is qualified to purchase a low-cost automobile insurance policy under
the pilot program if he or she has been licensed to drive pursuant
to a license obtained in the United States or Canada for at least the
previous 18 months and meets the criteria of subdivisions (b) to
(e), inclusive, for that period.
  SEC. 2.  Section 11629.931 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:

   11629.931.  A person who meets the requirements of subdivision (a)
of Section 11629.93, and who claims that he or she meets the
requirements of subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive, of Section
11629.73 based entirely or partially on a driver's license and
driving experience obtained other than in the United States or
Canada, shall be entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she
is qualified to purchase a low-cost automobile insurance policy under
the pilot program if he or she has been licensed to drive pursuant
to a license obtained in the United States or Canada for at least the
previous 18 months and meets the criteria of subdivisions (b) to
(e), inclusive, for that period.
  SEC. 3.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to clarify the eligibility requirements for low-cost auto
insurance policies as soon as possible, it is necessary that this
act take effect immediately.