BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: AB
656
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
AB 656 Author: Huber
As Amended: June 23, 2011
Hearing Date: June 28, 2011
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
Boards and Commissions
DESCRIPTION
AB 656 sunsets, as of January 1, 2014, the Board of Pilot
Commissioners for Monterey Bay and the Bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun; the Boating and Waterways
Commission; the Credit Union Advisory Committee; the New
Motor Vehicle Board; and, the Uniform Custom Cost
Accounting Commission in order to make them subject to
sunset review by the Joint Legislative Sunset Review
Committee. Specifically, this measure:
1. Abolishes, as of January 1, 2014, the Boating and
Waterways Commission, the Credit Union Advisory
Committee, the New Motor Vehicle Board, and, the
Uniform Custom Cost Accounting Commission and the
duties and responsibilities carried out by each of
these boards and commissions.
2. Eliminates, as of January 1, 2014, the Board of
Pilot Commissioners for Monterey Bay and the Bays of
San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun and repeals
certain provisions in the Harbors & Navigation Code
relative to the licensing of pilots in those Bays.
3. Also, recasts and reenacts certain provisions
relative to regulating pilotage for those Bays.
EXISTING LAW
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Existing law establishes the Credit Union Advisory
Committee in the Department of Financial Institutions. The
duties of this committee include advising the commissioner
and the Deputy Commissioner of Financial Institutions for
the Division of Credit Unions on matters relating to credit
unions and the credit union business.
Existing law establishes the Boating and Waterways
Commission in the Department of Boating and Waterways. The
duties of this commission include advising the department,
recommending proposed changes to regulations, and causing
studies and surveys to be made of the need for small craft
harbors and connecting waterways throughout the state.
Existing law establishes the California Uniform
Construction Cost Accounting Commission. The duties of
this commission include recommending, for adoption by the
Controller, uniform construction cost accounting procedures
for implementation by public agencies in the performance
of, or in contracting for, construction on public projects.
Existing law also establishes the New Motor Vehicle Board
in the Department of Motor Vehicles. The duties of which
include collecting fees for the administration of the
certification of third-party dispute resolution processes
for new motor vehicles established under the Business and
Professions Code and resolving issues raised by protests or
petitions filed with the board pursuant to, among other
actions, an appeal from a decision of the Department of
Motor Vehicles, and the regulation of franchises subject to
the Vehicle Code.
Existing law establishes in state government the Board of
Pilot Commissioners, with jurisdiction over Monterey Bay
and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun.
Existing law directs the Board to regulate pilotage and
provides for the licensing, regulation, and management of
pilots in these Bays. The Board consists of 7 members
appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate,
as follows: (1) two members must be licensed pilots; (2)
two members must represent the industry and be substantial
users of Monterey Bay and any of the waters of the Bays of
San Francisco, San Pablo, or Suisun; and, (3) three must be
"public" members. Additionally, the Secretary of Business,
Transportation & Housing Agency serves ex officio.
Existing law prescribes pilotage rates for vessels and
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requires vessels spoken inward or outward bound to pay a
specified rate of bar pilotage through the Golden Gate and
into or out of the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and
Suisun and vessels navigating the waters of Monterey Bay
are also required to pay a specified rate.
Existing law requires the Board to adopt a schedule of
pilotage rates applicable to pilots and inland pilots for
those operations that are not otherwise provided for under
existing law. Existing law also requires the board to
establish a surcharge for each movement of a vessel using
pilot services to be used for the pilot and inland pilot
continuing education program established by the board.
BACKGROUND
Current law establishes the Joint Legislative Sunset Review
Committee to identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and
inefficiency in government agencies and to conduct a
comprehensive analysis of every "eligible agency" to
determine if the agency is still necessary and cost
effective. Additionally, the law requires each eligible
agency scheduled for repeal to submit a report to the
committee containing specified information and requires the
Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee to take public
testimony and evaluate the eligible agency prior to the
date the agency is scheduled to be repealed, and requires
that an eligible agency be eliminated unless the
Legislature enacts a law to extend, consolidate, or
reorganize the agency.
Purpose of AB 656: The author's office notes that the
Legislature creates new boards, commissions, agencies and
departments to solve a problem, but far too often there is
no on-going oversight of the newly created bureaucracy to
ensure it actually solved the problem it was created to
solve.
This measure will sunset the Board of Pilot Commissioners
for Monterey Bay and the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo,
and Suisun; the Boating and Waterways Commission; the
Credit Union Advisory Committee; the New Motor Vehicle
Board; and, the Uniform Custom Cost Accounting Commission
and make them subject to review by the Joint Sunset Review
Committee. To accomplish this, AB 656 would abolish these
entities effective January 1, 2014, prior to which, the
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Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee will conduct a
thorough review to ensure these entities are operating
efficiently and effectively.
The author's office references the fact that the Board of
Pilot Commissioners for Monterey Bay and the Bays of San
Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun has been in continuous
existence since 1850, but was not subject to external
review until 2009, when the Bureau of State Audits (BSA)
conducted a comprehensive review of the Board's performance
and finances after the container ship M/V COSCO Busan hit
the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge in thick fog. The
Board was found to lack many internal controls, causing it
to violate not only its own rules, but those in state law.
According to the BSA, the Board seems to have embraced the
auditor's recommendations and is making progress on
reforms.
This measure provides that the Board will undergo the same
comprehensive review by the Joint Legislative Sunset Review
Committee to which other agencies, boards, bureaus, and
government entities are subject to ensure it is complying
with the Auditor's recommendations and to address any
issues that have occurred since the BSA's audit.
Additionally, the author's office emphasizes that the Joint
Sunset Review Committee will conduct a thorough review of
the Boating and Waterways Commission, the Credit Union
Advisory Committee which was created in 1996 and has never
been formally evaluated, the New Motor Vehicle Board
created in 1973 and which has never been formally evaluated
(although the 2004 California Performance Review
recommended elimination) and the 14-member Uniform Cost
Accounting Commission which has never been formally
evaluated.
Writing in support of this measure, the Pacific Merchant
Shipping Association points out that the regulatory
structure in place for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo
and Suisun does not exist for any other pilots servicing
California's ports (e.g., Ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles,
and San Diego) and thus should be examined to determine if
state regulation for one region is necessary.
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
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AB 907 (Ma) 2011-12 Session. Would make specified changes
to various provisions of the Harbors and Navigation Code
relating to bar pilotage rates for Monterey Bay and the
Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun. (Pending in
this Committee)
AB 1025 (Skinner) 2011-12 Session. Among other things,
would authorize the Board of Pilot Commissioners to charge
an examination fee, as specified, to each applicant to the
pilot trainee training program to cover administrative
costs. Also, would require the executive director of the
Board to be responsible for safety investigations and
authorizes the executive director to personally inspect
equipment involved in the injury of a bar pilot.
Additionally, would require that the board's assistant
director be appointed by the Secretary of Business,
Transportation and Housing, instead of being appointed by
the governor, and serve at the pleasure of the secretary.
(Pending in this Committee)
AB 1888 (Ma) Chapter 455, Statutes of 2010. Among other
things, revised the terms for members of the board who are
licensed pilots and members who represent the industry and
exempted from those pilotage fees and surcharges
noncommercial vessels that are maritime academy training
vessels and vessels owned and operated by nonprofit museums
or foundations. These vessels would be subject to the board
operations surcharge.
AB 1659 (Huber) Chapter 666, Statutes of 2010. Revised and
recast existing provisions of law governing the periodic
review (Sunset Review) of government entities by creating a
new Joint Sunset Review Committee with the responsibility
to review and evaluate state entities based on specific
criteria and information provided by those entities.
SB 1627 (Wiggins) Chapter 567, Statutes of 2008. Made
numerous substantive, clarifying and technical changes to
the body of law relating to the Board of Pilot
Commissioners. Specifically, injected ongoing and
continuous legislative oversight and administrative
responsibility within the existing pilot licensing
framework, without altering the Board, its charge, or
composition and without changing current pilotage rates,
pilot pension benefits, or duties and responsibilities of
current, past or future licensed pilots. Also, directed
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the Bureau of State Audits to conduct a comprehensive
performance and financial audit of the Board.
SUPPORT: As of June 24, 2011:
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
OPPOSE: None on file as of June 24, 2011.
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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