BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                            



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                                 UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 1183
          Author:   DeSaulnier (D)
          Amended:  6/25/14
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  6-4, 4/29/14
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Beall, Hueso, Lara, Liu, Pavley
          NOES:  Gaines, Cannella, Galgiani, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Roth

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-2, 5/23/14
          AYES:  De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Gaines

           SENATE FLOOR  :  26-9, 5/28/14
          AYES:  Beall, Block, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier,  
            Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff,  
            Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Padilla,  
            Pavley, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Wolk
          NOES:  Anderson, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Knight, Morrell,  
            Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Berryhill, Calderon, Roth, Wright, Yee

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 46-29, 08/20/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Vehicle registration fees:  surcharge for local  
          bicycle infrastructure

           SOURCE  :     East Bay Regional Park District


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           DIGEST  :    This bill authorizes, until January 1, 2025, local  
          governments to impose vehicle registration surcharges for the  
          purpose of funding local bicycle infrastructure improvements and  
          maintenance, and requires any local agency that imposes the  
          surcharge to report to the Legislature, as specified.

           Assembly Amendments  require any local agency that imposes the  
          surcharge to report to the Legislature, as specified; and sunset  
          the program on January 1, 2025.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law establishes a basic vehicle  
          registration fee (VRF) of $46, plus a $23 surcharge for  
          additional personnel for the California Highway Patrol for the  
          new or renewal registration of most vehicles.  Existing law also  
          authorizes local agencies to impose separate VRF surcharges in  
          their respective jurisdictions for a variety of special  
          programs, including up to $2 for programs to address vehicle  
          thefts, up to $19 to mitigate vehicular air emissions, and $1 to  
          abate abandon vehicles.

          This bill:

          1.Authorizes, subject to 2/3-voter approval, cities, counties,  
            and regional parks districts to impose a surcharge of up to $5  
            on motor vehicles registered within their respective  
            jurisdictions.  

          2.Requires the amount of the surcharge would be specified in an  
            ordinance adopted by the local agency, and the Department of  
            Motor Vehicles (DMV) to administer the collection of fees and  
            distribution of net revenues to the local agency, after  
            deduction collection costs.  

          3.Requires net revenues to be used for improvements to paved and  
            natural surface trails and bikeways, including:

                 Rehabilitation, restoration, and expansion of existing  
               trails and bikeways;

                 Development of new trails and bikeways;

                 Improvement and development of other bicycle facilities,  
               including but not limited to, bicycle parking facilities;  
               and 

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                 Maintenance and upkeep of existing local and regional  
               trail systems, bikeway systems, networks, and other bicycle  
               facilities.  

          1.Limits local agency administrative expenses to no more than 5%  
            of the net revenues collected under this bill.

          2.Requires any local agency that imposes the surcharge to  
            provide an annual fiscal year-end report to the Legislature  
            which includes the total net revenues received from the  
            surcharge and expended during the previous fiscal year and a  
            summary of the infrastructure and projects funded.

          3.Sunsets the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2025.

           Comments

          Purpose of this bill .  In a 2002 National Highway Transportation  
          Safety Administration survey, seven in 10 people said that they  
          would like to bike more than they do now, but less than half of  
          those surveyed were satisfied with how their communities are  
          designed for bicycling.  The public's desire for more bikable  
          communities aligns with large safety benefits associated with  
          use of bike paths and trails:  A 2012 study in the American  
          Journal of Public Health found that bicyclists using separated,  
          protected bicycle tracks had a nine-fold decrease in injury risk  
          due to accidents compared to cyclists sharing roads with motor  
          vehicles.  In addition to safety benefits, bike infrastructure  
          supports the state's goal to promote walking and biking through  
          the state's Active Transportation Program, and also supports the  
          objectives of California's landmark Sustainable Communities Act,  
          SB 375 (Steinberg, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008).

           Department of Motor Vehicles to administer  .  DMV routinely  
          administers local vehicle registration surcharges and  
          distributes net revenues back to local jurisdictions.  Local  
          vehicle registration surcharge programs that DMV currently  
          administers include ones that support, for example, regional air  
          quality programs.  Because DMV has already put in place  
          mechanisms for collecting, processing, and distributing local  
          vehicle registration surcharge revenues, DMV's cost to implement  
          the program would be low and concentrated in the first year to  
          set up the programming.  All of DMV's collection costs would  

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          come from the proceeds of the local surcharge.

           Vote of the people  .  The people passed Proposition 26 in  
          November 2010 and so amended the California Constitution to  
          require that any "change in statute which results in a taxpayer  
          paying a higher tax must be imposed by an act passed by not less  
          than two-thirds of all members elected to each of the two houses  
          of the Legislature."  This bill does not result in a taxpayer  
          paying a higher tax but delegates to cities, counties, and  
          regional park districts the authority to impose a higher  
          surcharge on vehicle registrations to fund a specific government  
          function.  So while this bill is a majority vote measure in the  
          Legislature, the local action to increase the registration  
          surcharge will be a two-thirds vote of the local electorate.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

           Estimated one-time costs to the DMV in the range of $150,000  
            to $200,000 for programming and startup costs to implement a  
            new fee collection protocol.  These costs would be reimbursed  
            in arrears from fees collected.  All ongoing DMV costs would  
            be deducted from fees collected prior to distribution to the  
            local agency imposing the surcharge.  (Motor Vehicle Account)

           Additional DMV programming costs of approximately $40,000 for  
            each subsequent jurisdiction that imposes the surcharge.  All  
            ongoing administrative collection costs would be deducted from  
            fees collected prior to distribution. (Motor Vehicle Account)

           Unknown revenue gains on the local level, potentially in the  
            millions annually, depending on the amount of the surcharge  
            adopted and the number of registered vehicles in a particular  
            jurisdiction in which a surcharge is approved by the voters.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/20/14)

          East Bay Regional Park District (source)
          Bike East Bay
          California Bicycle Coalition
          California Park and Recreation Society
          Coalition for Clean Air

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          TransForm
          Transportation Authority of Marin

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/20/14)

          Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
          Association of California Car Clubs
          California Association of Bicycle Organizations
          California Department of Finance
          California Taxpayers Association
          Inland Empire Car Club Council
          Over the Hill Gang San Bernardino


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 46-29, 08/20/14
          AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,  
            Bradford, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Daly,  
            Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gray,  
            Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,  
            Lowenthal, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A.  
            P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,  
            Rodriguez, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams,  
            Yamada, Atkins
          NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Brown, Ch�vez, Conway,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Donnelly, Fox, Beth Gaines, Gonzalez, Gorell,  
            Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,  
            Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Salas,  
            Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, Gordon, Grove, Melendez, Vacancy


          JA:k  8/20/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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