BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2679|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2679
Author: Assembly Transportation Committee
Amended: 8/21/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/3/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/16/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/17/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Transportation: omnibus bill
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes non-controversial changes to
sections of law relating to transportation.
ANALYSIS :
This bill includes the following provisions:
1. Department of Transportation (Caltrans) claims �Section
1] . Existing law authorizes Caltrans to pay claims or
CONTINUED
AB 2679
Page
2
damages up to a maximum of $5,000 without approval of
the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims
Board (CVCGC). In the past, this threshold has been
aligned with the limit for filing a claim in small
claims court. In recent years, however, the Legislature
has increased the small claims court limit on two
occasions while Caltrans' threshold has not. As a
result, many "small claims" that Caltrans could handle
efficiently must be referred to the CVCGC. Referral to
CVCGC frequently leads to the filing of a lawsuit,
thereby necessitating the involvement of Caltrans' legal
staff at substantially increased cost. This bill pegs
the threshold under which Caltrans may pay claims
without involving its attorneys at the small claims
court limit.
2. Bicycles on capital grounds �Section 2] . Under existing
law it a misdemeanor to ride a bike on the sidewalks of
the state capital to access the bike racks near the
doors. This bill makes it legal to ride a bike on
capital walkways that the California Highway Patrol
(CHP) has designated as access routes to bicycle
parking, provided that the bicycle is ridden in a manner
that is reasonable and prudent having due regard for
pedestrians, weather, visibility, the traffic on, and
the surface and width of, the area's grounds.
3. Updating agency names �Sections 3, 7, 8, and 16] . The
former Imperial Valley Association of Governments is now
the Imperial County Transportation Commission, and the
former Los Angeles County Transportation Commission is
now the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority. This bill updates the statutory references
to these two agencies.
4. Using the term "disabled" �Sections 4-6, 9, 11-15, and
17] . This bill updates the Transportation Development
Act to replace the term "handicapped" with the term
"disabled."
5. Correcting a drafting error �Section 10] . In 2009, AB
1219 (Evans), Chapter 143, Statutes of 2009, allows the
Solano Transportation Authority (STA) to file a claim
with the transportation planning agency for up to two
CONTINUED
AB 2679
Page
3
percent of local transportation funds available to the
county and city members of the authority for countywide
transit planning and coordination. AB 1219 erroneously
cited STA's allotment as two percent when, in fact,
STA's allotment has been 2.7 percent since 2004. This
bill corrects this drafting error and aligns the
statutory allotment distribution with current practice.
6. Gas-tax swap cleanup �Sections 18 and 19] . This bill
aligns 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 enacted in
the fuel tax swap of AB 105 (Assembly Budget Committee),
Chapter 6, Statutes of 2011. The dates changes so that
when there are adjustments to the gasoline and diesel
fuel excise tax rates, they will 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 Board of Equalization
(BOE) and the affected motor vehicle fuel suppliers.
The bill also allows the BOE to notify fuel vendors of a
new prepayment rate by means other than mail and makes a
clarifying reference to the additional sales tax on
diesel fuel set to take effect on July 1, 2011.
7. Highway relinquishments �Sections 20-33] . Existing law
relinquishes numerous portions of the state highway
systems to cities and counties. This bill cleans up the
relinquishment statutes to reflect those relinquishments
that have already occurred and those that will not
occur. The bill also allows the California
Transportation Commission to relinquish to the City of
Watsonville a portion of State Route 152 within the city
limits upon terms and conditions the commission finds to
be in the best interests of the state.
8. License plate mounting �Section 34] . Existing law
regulates the displaying of vehicle license plates and
requires the rear license plate be mounted not less than
12 inches nor more than 60 inches from the ground, with
certain specified exceptions. This bill adds an
additional exception by requiring that the rear license
plate of a dump bed motor truck equipped with a
CONTINUED
AB 2679
Page
4
trailing, load bearing swing axle, as defined, be
mounted more than 12 inches, but not more than 107
inches, from the ground.
9. Schoolbus stops �Sections 35-36] . Existing law requires
schoolbus drivers to load or unload pupils only at stops
designated by a school district superintendent. This
bill additionally authorizes private school officials to
designate schoolbus stops.
10. Release of impounded vehicles �Section 37] . Existing
law allows a peace officer to impound a vehicle if the
driver is unlicensed or driving with a suspended or
revoked license. In order for the vehicle to be
released from impound, the registered owner, or the
registered owner's agent, must present a valid driver's
license and proof of current vehicle registration. It
is not clear, however, whether the owner must present
the documents to the law enforcement agency that caused
the impound or to the garage operator. This bill
clarifies that the law enforcement agency must confirm
the validity of the license and registration and
authorize the release of the impounded vehicle.
11. Clarifying definitions �Section 38] . This bill
clarifies that a "slide back carrier" is a tow truck and
replace the term "conventional trailer" with "trailer."
Comments
The Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee is
authoring this bill as a means of combining multiple,
non-controversial changes to statutes into one bill, so
that the Legislature can make minor amendments in a
cost-effective manner. There is no known opposition to any
item in the bill, and if concerns arise that cannot be
resolved, the provision of concern will be deleted from the
bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
CONTINUED
AB 2679
Page
5
Unknown one-time costs --minor to millions of dollars--
to Caltrans prior to the relinquishment of SR 152 to
Watsonville (State Highway Account). These costs will
be offset in future years due to avoided maintenance
costs on the relinquished segment.
Unknown likely savings to Caltrans (State Highway
Account) related to avoided legal staff costs by
authorizing more minor damage claims to be settled
through an administrative process rather than through
referral to the CVCGC.
Likely minor administrative savings to the BOE related
to provisions that align rate-setting dates for fuel
excise taxes with the adjustment dates for the sales tax
prepayment rate and the interstate user rate, as
specified.
Minor and absorbable costs to the CHP to approve bus
stop locations for private schools.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/17/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fletcher, Bonnie Lowenthal, Perea,
Skinner, Yamada
JJA:d 8/21/12 Senate Floor Analyses
CONTINUED
AB 2679
Page
6
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
**** END ****
CONTINUED