BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2361|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2361
Author: Ruskin (D)
Amended: 4/29/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 5-1, 6/28/10
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Aanestad, Corbett, Florez, Yee
NOES: Correa
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Calderon, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 67-3, 5/10/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Weights and measures: inspection: fees
SOURCE : California Agricultural Commissioners and
Sealers Assoc.
DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset date on the
authority of the board of supervisors of a county to charge
fees to recover the costs of the county sealer to perform
specified duties until January 1, 2013.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
1. Provides that the Department of Food and Agriculture
(DFA) has general enforcement supervision of the laws
relating to weights and measures and measuring devices,
and provides for the enforcement of those laws and the
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inspection and testing of measuring devices, in each
county, by the county sealer.
2. Requires the county sealer to inspect and test weighing
and measuring devices that are used or sold in the
county and that are used for commercial purposes and to
weigh or measure packages used for commercial purposes
to determine whether they contain the amount
represented.
3. Authorizes the county board of supervisors to charge an
annual registration fee for the inspection and testing
of weighing and measuring devices, including: retail
gas pump meters, livestock and feed scales, motor truck
scales, utility meters, liquefied petroleum gas meters,
vehicle meters, and all other commercial weighing and
measuring devices, and makes specified exceptions.
4. Establishes a fee schedule, providing for maximum annual
amounts which may be charged for device registration,
and specifies that all revenues collected shall be
deposited into the county's general fund and used solely
for the purpose of device inspection and testing.
5. Repeals ("sunsets") the authority to charge registration
fees for weighing and measuring devices on January 1,
2011.
This bill extends the sunset date on the authority of the
board of supervisors of a county to charge fees to recover
the costs of the county sealer to perform specified duties
until January 1, 2013.
Background
Current law allows county boards of supervisors to
establish fees for business locations to partially fund
local weights and measures enforcement programs. The fees
are the single largest source of revenue for the county
program outside the County General Fund. The statute will
sunset in January 1, 2011.
The authority for weights and measures registration fees
was passed by the Legislature in 1982 to provide funding
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for weights and measures inspection activities. The law
was amended in 1983, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996,
1998, and 2005 to add additional devices to the
registration program and to adjust the schedule of maximum
fees. The section now applies to virtually all weighing
and measuring devices used commercially. The only
exceptions are farm milk tanks, which are specifically
exempted, and check out scanners, which are not considered
weighing or measuring devices.
The range of weighing and measuring devices included in the
registration program currently includes retail fuel
dispensing meters; water meters; electric meters that
measure electricity that is sub-metered by a mobile home
park; apartment complex, or boat dock; liquefied petroleum
gas meters or gas vapor meters that are-sub-metered; truck
scales, cattle scales and grocery counter scales; taxi
meters; and a variety of other devices that weigh or meter
a commodity offered for sale. The sunset date on the
device registration fees has been extended in 1985, 1987,
1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000 and finally again in 2005.
Prior Legislation
AB 889 (Ruskin), Chapter 529, Statutes of 2005, by the same
sponsor, extends the sunset date to January 1, 2011,
establishes a gradual increase in the fees that may be
adopted by a board of supervisors in order to more fully
fund the local weights and measure device inspection
program. The bill also establishes a two-tiered fee
schedule that provides both a location fee and a device fee
to more effectively capture the cost of the initial device
inspection.
SB 1644 (Kelley), Chapter 592, Statutes of 1994, by the
same sponsor, establishes the current administrative fine
provisions for weights and measures. At that time CACSA
introduces the bill in order to allow the county sealer to
handle many minor violations without having to involve
prosecution by the District Attorney (DA). DAs often do
not have the resources available to pursue minor violations
and most businesses prefer to resolve these issues in a low
key (without publicity) way. The possibility of issuing
administrative fines has proven to be an effective
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incentive to obtain compliance in areas where there are
relatively isolated or less serious violations. Repeated
violations can still be referred to the DA for action.
AB 1810 (Wiggins), Chapter 512, Statues of 2000, also by
the same sponsor, extends the sunset dates on the civil
penalty authority and on device registration fees.
SB 189 (Kelley), Chapter 476, Statutes of 1997, extends the
sunset date to January 1, 2001.
AB 1728 (Murray), Chapter 47, Statutes of 1995, extended
the sunset date to January 1, 1998.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10)
California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers
Association (source)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees
California State Association of Counties
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
San Diego County Board of Supervisors
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor of the
bill, California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers
Association (CACASA), the bill was introduced as a vehicle
to address the upcoming sunset of the device registration
program and also as a catalyst to spur dialogue between
county sealers and affected industry groups. As the bill
moves forward, the Association will welcome all affected
industry groups to trade information and assess the
efficiencies and best practices utilized during the
expansion of the program since 2005.
CACASA commits to working with all interested parties, but
will not sacrifice the integrity of the program or dilute
the oversight that sealers provide the public. If a device
is being used to assess a charge on a customer, it must be
accurate."
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The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, states that
over 77,900 commercial weighing and measuring devices are
used by 3,500 businesses in Santa Clara County, and county
staff conducts over 17,700 inspections and certifications
for these devices each year. Program fees generate
approximately $790,000 which supplements the local general
fund contribution. Consumers rely on the program to test
commercial devices, as they have no means to check the
accuracy of a gas pump, taxi meter, or a computing scale at
a supermarket. The extension of the fee is vital for the
protection of consumers against fraud in the marketplace,
and for promotion of equity in the business community.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De Leon, Emmerson,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller,
Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Anderson, Knight, Miller
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, De La Torre, DeVore,
Gaines, Harkey, Mendoza, Norby, Saldana, Solorio, Vacancy
JJA:do 6/30/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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