BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 817
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 27, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     AB 817 (Gatto) - As Amended:  May 12, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              
          JudiciaryVote:10-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) 
          to study whether the laws regulating vehicle rental companies 
          and their customers should be made more clear and concise, and 
          report its findings to the Legislature by December 31, 2012.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Absorbable costs to the CLRC, which would likely have to alter 
          its planned work schedule to some extent in order to meet the 
          deadline for this study and report.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, existing statutes regarding 
            car rental companies would benefit by reorganization and 
            revision. Civil Code Section 1936, relating to rental car 
            transactions, was first enacted in 1988, and has since been 
            amended numerous times, sections 1936.01, 1936.015, 1936.05 
            and 1936.1 have all been enacted, including many provisions 
            that are redundant to section 1936. The author contends that 
            the result is a set of laws that is confusingly organized and 
            unnecessarily long. This has led to a lack of clarity for 
            rental car companies and their customers when faced with a 
            question that pertains to these code sections. Rental company 
            personnel who are involved in company operations continually 
            seek legal interpretations of the meanings of current law.


           2)The CLRC  was created in 1953 and was given the responsibility 
            to substantively review California's statutory and case law. 








                                                                  AB 817
                                                                  Page  2

            The commission seeks to discover deficiencies in existing law 
            and makes related recommendations to the Legislature for 
            needed reforms. The commission is currently authorized, by 
            legislative resolution, to study 22 specific topics.



           3)The May Revision of the governor's proposed budget eliminates 
            the CLRC  .


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081