BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2499 (Portantino)
Hearing Date: 08/09/2010 Amended: 08/05/2010
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T&H 9-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2499 would revise the licensing and regulation
of traffic violator school (TVS) programs.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
DMV: TVS regulations minor and absorbable costs Special*
DMV: website database $40 Special*
DMV: licensing $500 $100 Special*
(all licensing costs fully offset by
fees)
DMV/TAP monitoring annual costs of $2,500, fully offset by
fees
DMV: administration annual costs of $550, fully offset by
fees
DOJ processing requirements minor and absorbable
costsGeneral
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* Motor Vehicle Account
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STAFF COMMENTS:
Existing law authorizes courts to order a person to attend a
licensed traffic violator school (TVS), a licensed driving
school, or other court-approved program of driving instruction,
under specified circumstances, in lieu of adjudicating the
traffic offense. DMV regulates the licensing and administration
of classroom-based TVSs, but does not regulate "home study"
programs. Home study programs are permitted to operate under
authority granted to local courts to refer violators to
court-approved programs. Existing law authorizes DMV to charge
a variety of fees for the issuance of a license to operate a
TVS, as well as a $3 fee for each completion certificate issued
to a student by a TVS.
AB 758 (Plescia/Portantino), Chapter 396 of 2007 required DMV to
recommend to the Legislature a plan for consolidating the
licensing of all TVS programs, standardizing curriculum
requirements, auditing, inspection, and monitoring of all TVS
programs, recommendations for a fee schedule sufficient to cover
DMV's administrative costs for ongoing licensing and regulation,
and a cost-benefit analysis of contracting with nongovernmental
entities for monitoring TVS programs. AB 2499 implements many
of these recommendations.
AB 2499 includes the following key components:
Require all TVS, whether classroom-based or home-study, to be
licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and require
DMV to establish standards for each modality by September 1,
2011.
Prescribe standards that TVS owners must meet for licensure,
including bonding requirements of $15,000 for home-study and
$2,000 for classroom TVS programs.
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AB 2499 (Portantino)
Specify that attendance at a TVS after July 1, 2011
constitutes a conviction, rather than dismissal of the
violation, to ensure repeat violators are not allowed to
repeat a TVS program within 18 months of prior completion of a
course to avoid penalties.
Require DMV to provide a list of licensed TVS programs on its
website, and develop a web-based database by April 1, 2012 to
enable DMV, the courts, and a TVS to monitor, report, and
track participation and course completion.
Delete provisions that allow for court-approved programs
(CAPs) of traffic safety instruction, and instead authorize a
traffic-assistance program (TAP) to assist the courts in
performing services related to the processing of traffic
violators as of January 1, 2013. Courts could charge a fee to
cover actual costs incurred by a TAP, as prescribed by DMV.
Authorize DMV to use a TAP for monitoring TVS programs,
including audits, inspections, and examinations of records and
lesson plans.
Authorize the courts to charge a fee of $49, plus any fees
required by DMV to cover the costs of administering TAPS, to
any person opting to attend a TVS.
Delete the current schedule of fees for licensing traffic
school owners, operators, and instructors, and for issuing
completion certificates, and instead prescribe fees sufficient
to cover DMV's costs for licensing TVS owners, operators,
instructors.
Require DMV to issue annual reports to the Legislature from
December 31, 2011 through 2015 on the status and progress of
its efforts to implement the requirements of this bill.
There are approximately 400 licensed TVSs and unlicensed 200
home study schools currently operating in the state. DMV
estimates that approximately 1.2 million persons, or one fourth
of all minor traffic offenders, take a TVS class annually. The
TVS option assists the operation of the courts by significantly
reducing the volume of potential court cases. DMV licenses all
classroom TVSs, plus their owner-operators, and instructors. In
addition, DMV establishes course curricula, provides completion
certificates, conducts monitoring activities, and performs other
related responsibilities. Home study courses are approved by
individual courts on a court-by-court basis. Consequently, for
these courses, there are no consistent standards for curriculum
content, duration of course, or verification of the identity of
the student. Under AB 2499, DMV would be responsible for
licensing and monitoring both classroom and home-study programs,
either with their own staff or through TAPs.
Tracking enrollment and completion of TVS programs by
participants would all be accomplished through a web-based
database established by DMV. According to DMV, costs to set up
this system would be in the range of $40,000. Initial DMV costs
associated with developing new regulations for the licensing and
monitoring of TVS programs would be minor. All ongoing
licensing and monitoring of the program, estimated at over $3
million annually, would be fully offset by licensing fees and
fees paid by participants when a court approves adjudication of
a violation by completing a TVS program.