BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 734
Author: Lowenthal (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SEN. TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 4/28/09
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : General transportation clean-up
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes several clean-up, clarifying,
and non-controversial changes related to transportation
law.
ANALYSIS :
This bill includes the following provisions:
Section 1
Clarifies that any interest earned on the investment of
funds from the Local Streets and Road Improvement,
Congestion Relief, and Traffic Safety Account, as
established by Proposition 1B of 2006, must be used for
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transportation facilities. The State Controller's Office
(SCO) has received numerous calls from cities seeking
clarification regarding the use of interest income, thus
prompting the SCO to clarify in statute that any interest
earned must be used for transportation purposes. According
to the SCO, it is common practice for the interest earned
on funds to be used for the same purposes intended for
those funds.
Section 2
Deletes an obsolete deadline for adopting State
Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) guidelines.
Existing law requires the California Transportation
Commission to adopt guidelines for the development of the
STIP. One subdivision of that law requires that the
guidelines be adopted by May 1, 1999. This date has long
since passed, and this subdivision is now obsolete.
Section 3
Deletes unnecessary language describing the violation that
a sign warning of a minimum penalty refers to. The
provision of law this bill amends requires that a sign be
posted to indicate the minimum fine amount. The violation
is already described in the section of law that authorizes
the fine amount and so it is unnecessary to repeat in the
section regarding signage.
Section 4
Conforms the Public Utilities Code with the Government Code
regarding the time by which transit operators must file
annual reports with the Controller's office under
Proposition 1B.
Sections 5-7
Sections 5 and 6 of the bill add definitions of "bicycle
path" and "bicycle path crossing" to clarify the types of
facilities that bicycles are permitted to use, and Section
7 clarifies that state law does not prohibit bicycles from
operating on sidewalks and crosswalks, where permitted by
local ordinance.
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Section 8
Adds a missing cross-reference, in the section of law
prohibiting a person from parking in a space designated for
a disabled person, to the section of law requiring state
agencies to provide one parking space for disabled person
for every 25 parking spaces it provides.
Sections 9 and 10
Deletes unnecessary language describing the violation that
a sign warning of a minimum penalty refers to. The
provision of law this bill amends requires that a sign be
posted to indicate the minimum fine amount. The violation
is already described in the section of law that authorizes
the fine amount and so it is unnecessary to repeat in the
section regarding signage.
Section 11
Applies the minimum and maximum fine amounts that relate to
criminal parking citations to civil parking citations
because mot citations are issued as civil violations, not
criminal infractions. State law seeks to set minimum and
maximum fine amounts for parking in a disabled spot. This
was meant to apply to all violations, but it does not apply
to the civil citation for which local governments set the
fine amounts. This provision is intended to ensure that
the fine amounts set by local governments for these
violations are consistent with the range intended by the
Legislature.
Section 12
Changes required notice of penalty waiver for parking
ticket administrative hearings. If a person who receives a
parking ticket contests the ticket within a specified
period of time, current law requires the issuing agency to
conduct an initial administrative review. If the person
seeking the review is dissatisfied with the results, he or
she may, within 21 days, request an administrative hearing.
To receive an administrative hearing, the person must
first pay the parking penalty, unless the person can
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provide satisfactory proof of an inability to pay in which
case the penalty is waived. Current law, however, requires
the issuing agency to notify alleged violators of this
waiver only when they request a hearing, rather than at the
close of informal review. In other words, persons who
request an administrative hearing only receive notice of
the waiver provision after they have requested the hearing.
Concern is raised that people who cannot afford the
penalty may not seek the administrative hearing and simply
let the ticket go unpaid, in which case the person would
accrue substantial penalties in addition to the original
fine. Requiring that notice of the ability to seek a
waiver be provided at the close of an informal review is a
logical change to the law.
Comments
Purpose . The purpose of this bill is to combine multiple,
non-controversial changes to statutes into one bill so that
the Legislature may make minor amendments in a
cost-effective manner.
Prior Legislation
Most of these provisions were also contained in SB 432
(Lowenthal), 2007-08 Session. The bill was passed by the
Legislature but vetoed by the Governor with the following
message:
"The historic delay in passing the 2008-09 State Budget
has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk
at the end of the year's legislative session. Given
the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest
priority in California. This bill does not meet that
standard and I cannot sign it at this time."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
JJA:cm 5/11/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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