BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2151 (Torres)
Hearing Date: 8/9/2010 Amended: 7/15/2010
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: BFI 9-1
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2151 would:
1) Prohibit an insurer from increasing the premium on a
private automobile insurance policy issued to a peace
officer, member of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), or
firefighter, in the event that he or she is involved in an
accident while operating any employer-leased/rented vehicle
or a private vehicle in the performance of his or her duty
at the request of the employer;
2) Permit a peace officer, CHP member, or firefighter to
not file a report any accident in which he or she was
involved while operating a private vehicle at the request
of his or her employer;
3) Provide that any private insurance or automobile
insurance policy covering an employee mentioned above would
not be required to provide defense or indemnification when
the employee is using a private vehicle in such an
accident.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Increased state potentially major costs to the
General/
liability state and local governmentsSpecial/
in any given year Federal/
Local
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Current policies for reimbursement to a privately-owned vehicle
while on state business are found in the State Administrative
Manual (SAM) maintained by the Department of General Services
(DGS). An employee may claim repair costs for a privately-owned
vehicle damaged while conducting official state business if the
accident was not his or her fault and the expense is not
reimbursable through the insurance coverage of any of the
parties involved in the accident. Payment is made out of the
employing agency's allotted travel funds. State employers will
also pay the costs of any damages that exceed an employees'
insurance coverage when he or she is not at fault.
Although this bill does not require an employer to indemnify or
to provide defense for an employee in this situation, it does
prohibit the employer from accessing third party payors, or
insurance companies, to cover some or all of the cost of such an
accident. This would leave the employer or the employee as the
only payor options. Since the employee would have been
performing his or her duty at the direction of the employer, the
employer would likely be responsible for the damages. This would
be an expansion of the state's current policy and would expose
the state to potentially major liability in any give year.
Page 2
AB 2151 (Torres)
There are 50,424 peace officers, members of CHP, and
firefighters employed by 33 departments and agencies of the
Executive Branch of California state government. As an example,
over a period of 4 years, CHP officers were involved in 38
accidents while operating privately-owned vehicles while on
duty. This equates to approximately 10 accidents per year out of
about 7,600 officers, or 0.13 percent. When extrapolated over
all Executive Branch peace officers, CHP, and firefighters, and
allowing for a payment of $1,000 in damages per incident, annual
costs would be approximately $67,000 total funds.
However, as described above, costs could increase in any given
year in the event that there is a catastrophic accident. Funding
sources for these departments and agencies are made up of a
variety of General Fund, special funds, and federal funds. This
would also apply to local jurisdictions, but would not
constitute a reimbursable state-mandated local program.