BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 734
                                                                  Page  1

          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 734 (Alan Lowenthal)
          As Amended  August 27, 2009
          Majority vote

           SENATE VOTE  :36-0  
           
           TRANSPORTATION      13-0        APPROPRIATIONS      15-0        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Eng, Jeffries, Buchanan,  |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen,         |
          |     |Conway, Furutani,         |     |Ammiano,                  |
          |     |Galgiani, Garrick,        |     |Charles Calderon, Coto,   |
          |     |Bonnie Lowenthal, Miller, |     |Davis, Duvall, Fuentes,   |
          |     |Niello,                   |     |Hall, Harkey, Miller,     |
          |     |John A. Perez, Solorio,   |     |John A. Perez, Skinner    |
          |     |Torlakson                 |     |Audra Strickland,         |
          |     |                          |     |Torlakson                 |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          SUMMARY  :  Enacts various cleanup and technical modifications to  
          existing transportation-related statutes.  Specifically,  this  
          bill  :  

          1)Conforms state law to federal law by clarifying that drivers  
            employed by public utilities are exempt from hours-of-service  
            regulations that apply to the movement of vehicles engaged in  
            intrastate commerce.  

          2)Establishes statutory definitions of "bicycle path" and  
            "bicycle path crossing" to clarify the types of facilities  
            that bicycles are permitted to use.  

          3)Removes obsolete language in a statutory provision regarding  
            driving violation points.  

          4)Clarifies that state law does not prohibit bicycles from  
            operating on sidewalks and crosswalks, where permitted by  
            local ordinance.  

          5)Clarifies that a driver's obligation to stop at an  
            intersection which has traffic signals that are inoperative  
            applies regardless of the reason that the signals are  
            inoperative.  








                                                                  SB 734
                                                                  Page  2


          6)Adds a missing cross-reference in the statute prohibiting a  
            person from parking in a space designated for a disabled  
            person to the statute requiring state agencies to provide one  
            parking space for disabled person for every 25 parking spaces  
            it provides.  

          7)Clarifies the time period during which a person may request an  
            initial review of a parking violation notice.  

          8)Requires an agency that issues parking citations to provide  
            notice of the availability of penalty waivers prior to  
            receiving a request for an administrative hearing appealing  
            the citation.  

          9)Confirms the existing statutory interpretation and practice of  
            the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that the registration  
            of a vehicle owned by a nonprofit public benefit corporation  
            that administers a countywide coordinated paratransit plan is  
            exempt from vehicle registration fees.

           EXISTING LAW  establishes various statutory provisions regarding  
          transportation-related issues.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee analysis, minor reimbursable costs for local agencies  
          to modify the contents of their notifications following an  
          initial review of a parking violation.  All other costs  
          associated with the bill are negligible.  

           COMMENTS  :  This is the Senate Transportation and Housing  
          Committee's annual technical cleanup bill.  It combines a number  
          of technical, clarifying provisions dealing with a variety of  
          transportation-related topics.  Each of the provisions is  
          noncontroversial, having no opposition.  

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :   Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 


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