BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2679
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 9, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

            AB 2679 (Committee on Transportation) - As Amended:  March 27, 
                                        2012 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:14-0 (Consent)
                        Revenue and Taxation                    8-0 
          (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This omnibus bill makes numerous technical or non-substantive 
          changes to transportation and vehicle-related statutes 
          including:

          1)Aligning the amount that Caltrans is authorized to pay for 
            damage claims with limits associated with small claims court.

          2)Aligning the adjustment dates of the gasoline and diesel fuel 
            sales taxes with excise tax rates to reduce the time and costs 
            associated with adjusting the rates at two different times.  

          3)Allowing the Board of Equalization (BOE) to notify fuel 
            vendors of a new prepayment rate by means other than United 
            States mail.   

          4)Clarifying references to the additional sales tax on diesel 
            fuel set to take effect on July 1, 2011.  

          5)Updating descriptions of various routes on the State Highway 
            System to reflect relinquishments since 2009. 

          6)Permitting riding a bicycle on paved paths or walkways to 
            access bicycle parking racks near State Capitol. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Likely minor administrative cost savings.








                                                                  AB 2679
                                                                  Page  2


           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . This is the annual omnibus bill authored by the 
          Assembly Transportation Committee, which combines various 
          statutory modifications that are technical, noncontroversial, 
          and have no opposition.  The bill removes obsolete references 
          and provisions and updates terminology, in addition to the 
          changes described above.

          The BOE is seeking to align the adjustment dates of the gasoline 
          and diesel fuel sales tax prepayment rates with the excise tax 
          rate adjustments for both gasoline and diesel fuel as required 
          by the fuel tax swap.  The dates would be changed so that, if 
          and when there are adjustments to the gasoline and diesel fuel 
          excise tax rates, they would also be accounted for in the sales 
          tax prepayment rate thereby reducing the time and costs 
          associated with adjusting the rates at two different times, for 
          both the BOE and the affected industry.

          Current law authorizes Caltrans to pay claims or damages, up to 
          a maximum of $5,000 without approval of the California Victim 
          Compensation and Government Claims Board (CVCGC).  The bill 
          raises this limit to the small claims court limit (currently 
          $10,000), to allow Caltrans to adjudicate minor matters in small 
          claims court and minimize administrative costs.

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