BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2788
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          Date of Hearing:  May 10, 2010

                     ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON REVENUE AND TAXATION
                            Anthony J. Portantino, Chair

            AB 2788 (Committee on Revenue and Taxation) - As Introduced:   
                                    March 9, 2010

          Majority vote.  Tax levy.  Fiscal committee.

           SUBJECT  :  State Board of Equalization:  administration

           SUMMARY  :  Implements two technical and non-controversial tax  
          proposals sponsored by the State Board of Equalization (BOE).   
          Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Implements BOE Proposal 4-1 by amending both the Public  
            Resources Code (PRC) and the Revenue and Taxation Code (R&TC)  
            to reflect recent changes in the state government's  
            organizational structure.  Specifically, this proposal:

             a)   Corrects responsible state agency references in the  
               Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Act (R&TC Section 41001  
               et seq.) to conform to the Governor's Reorganization Plan  
               No. 1 of 2009, which transferred duties of the Division of  
               Telecommunications in the Department of General Services to  
               the office of the State Chief Information Officer; 

             b)   Corrects responsible state agency references in the  
               Integrated Waste Management Fee Law (R&TC Section 45001 et  
               seq.) to conform to SB 63 (Strickland), Chapter 21,  
               Statutes of 2009, which abolished the California Integrated  
               Waste Management Board and transferred its duties to the  
               Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery within the  
               California Natural Resources Agency; and, 

             c)   Deletes the obsolete definition of "board" contained in  
               the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (PRC Section  
               42460 et seq.).  

          2)Implements BOE Proposal 4-4 by reclassifying alcohol fuel  
            (commonly known as E85) from the Use Fuel Tax Law to the Motor  
            Vehicle Fuel Tax Law to conform the reporting requirements  
            with those for gasoline and diesel fuel.  









                                                                  AB 2788
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          3)Takes immediate effect as a tax levy.  

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Transferred, pursuant to the Governor's Reorganization Plan  
            No. 1 of 2009, duties of the Division of Telecommunications in  
            the Department of General Services to the office of the State  
            Chief Information Officer, including duties related to  
            implementing revenue generating procedures for the 911  
            emergency telephone system. 

          2)Abolished the California Integrated Waste Management Board and  
            transferred specified duties of the board to the Department of  
            Resources Recycling and Recovery, including duties related to  
            electronic waste.  

          3)Imposes an excise tax of $0.18 per gallon for the use of fuels  
            under the Use Fuel Tax Law.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.    

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)BOE Proposal 4-1  :  As noted above, this purely housekeeping  
            measure would amend both the PRC and the R&TC to reflect  
            recent changes in the state government's organizational  
            structure.  Specifically, this proposal would correct  
            responsible state agency references in the Emergency Telephone  
            Users Surcharge Act to conform to the Governor's  
            Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 2009.  This proposal would also  
            correct responsible state agency references in the Integrated  
            Waste Management Fee Law.  Finally, this proposal would delete  
            the obsolete definition of "board" contained in the Electronic  
            Waste Recycling Act of 2003.  

           2)BOE Proposal 4-4  :  This proposal reclassifies alcohol fuel  
            (commonly known as E85) from the Use Fuel Tax Law to the Motor  
            Vehicle Fuel Tax Law to conform the reporting requirements  
            with those for gasoline and diesel fuel.  As BOE notes,  
            "reclassifying alcohol fuel from a use fuel to a motor vehicle  
            fuel shifts the responsibility for collection and payment of  
            the excise tax from the vendor to the supplier, thereby easing  
            the compliance and reporting burden of the vendors and  
            providing administrative efficiencies to [BOE]."  It should be  
            noted that BOE has recently identified a number of highly  








                                                                  AB 2788
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            technical concerns with the current language for this  
            proposal.  Committee staff and BOE are currently working  
            together to address these issues.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          None on file 

           Opposition 
           
          None on file  
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  M. David Ruff / REV. & TAX. / (916)  
          319-2098