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California Highways

2012-2013 Legislative Session

AB = Assembly Bill · ACR = Assembly Concurrent Resolution
SB = Senate Bill · SCR = Senate Concurrent Resolution

This information reflects a review of legislation proposed as of 2013-02-16. Note that some are non-highway, if I find them of interest. Also note that Caltrans has a new website to obtain bill information, which includes the ability to subscribe to bills and to comment on them. Last items examined:

Assembly: AB 439, ACA 8, ACR 18, AJR 12, HR 7.
Senate: SB 314, SCA 11, SBX 1-1, SCR 11, SJR 2, SR 11

Note: ★ indicates new items as of this update.

Bills of interest under active consideration by the California State Assembly

AB 17 (Heuso) Vehicles: enhanced driver’s license..

This bill would authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to enter into a memorandum of understanding with a federal agency for the purpose of facilitating travels within the western hemisphere pursuant to the federal Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative through the issuance of an enhanced driver’s license, instruction permit, provisional license, or identification card. The bill would authorize the department to issue or renew, upon request, an enhanced driver’s license, instruction permit, provisional license, or identification card for specified persons. The bill would require a person applying for the initial issuance or renewal of an enhanced driver’s license, instruction permit, provisional license, or identification card to submit, under the penalty of perjury, additional proof of identity, residency, and citizenship that satisfies the requirements of the federal Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Because the knowledge of the submission of fraudulent information is a crime, the bill would create a new crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
01/14/13 Referred to Coms. on TRANS. and JUD..
AB 19 (Ting) Elections: online voting.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the Secretary of State to implement a pilot program whereby a county may enable voters to vote via the Internet..
12/04/12 From printer. May be heard in committee January 3.
AB 21 (Blumenfield) Sidewalks: repairs.
Under existing law, the Improvement Act of 1911, the owners of lots or portions of lots fronting on any portion of a public street or place are required to maintain any sidewalk in such condition that the sidewalk will not endanger persons or property and maintain it in a condition that will not interfere with the public convenience in the use of those works or areas, except as to those conditions created or maintained by persons other than the owner. This law imposes a duty of repair on the abutting property owners for defects in sidewalks, regardless of who created the defects, but does not of itself create tort liability to injured pedestrians or a duty to indemnify municipalities, except where a property owner created the defect or exercised dominion or control over the abutting sidewalk. This bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county that has an ordinance in operation that requires the city, county, or city and county to repair or reconstruct streets, sidewalks, or driveways that have been damaged as a result of tree growth from repealing the ordinance without the concurrence of the local electorate by majority vote. The bill would also declare that this is a matter of statewide concern.
01/14/13 Referred to Com. on L. GOV.
AB 49 (Buchanan) License plates: breast cancer awareness.
This bill would additionally authorize the DMV, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to design and make available for issuance special breast cancer awareness license plates bearing a full-plate graphic design depicting a the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon on a pink background, as specified, upon payment of an additional fee by a person applying for the special plate. The bill would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in the Breast Cancer Awareness Account, which is created by the bill in the Specialized License Plate Fund, for use by the State Department of Health Services, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for providing free or reduced-cost breast cancer preventative treatments, or funding research for treatments and cures for breast cancer.
01/14/13 Referred to Com. on TRANS..
AB 61 ★ (Gatto) Parking: parking meters. Existing law authorizes a local authority to adopt an ordinance or resolution prohibiting or restricting the parking of a vehicle at an inoperable parking meter or inoperable parking payment center, as defined. Existing law authorizes parking at an inoperable parking meter for up to the posted time limit if no ordinance or resolution has been adopted to prohibit it. This bill would prohibit a local authority from enacting an ordinance or resolution prohibiting or restricting the parking of a vehicle in a parking space that is regulated by an inoperable parking meter or inoperable parking payment center, as defined, until January 1, 2017.
01/18/13 Referred to Com. on L. GOV.
AB 62 ★ (Hueso) Route 86: relinquishment. Existing law gives the Department of Transportation full possession and control of all state highways. Existing law describes the authorized routes in the state highway system and establishes a process for adoption of a highway on an authorized route by the California Transportation Commission. Existing law also authorizes the commission to relinquish certain state highway segments to local agencies. This bill would authorize the commission to relinquish to the Cities of Brawley, El Centro, and Imperial and the County of Imperial specified portions of Route 86 under certain conditions. This bill would also redesignate a specified portion of Route 86 as a part of Route 78 following relinquishment. This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature that Route 86 should remain as a future state highway along a new, specified route.
01/18/13 Referred to Com. on TRANS.
AB 159 ★ (Chávez) Public postsecondary education: tuition and mandatory systemwide fees. Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would require the trustees, and would request the regents, to determine the amounts of undergraduate tuition and mandatory systemwide fees for each incoming first-year class. The bill would require that the tuition and mandatory systemwide fees set for an incoming first-year class under the bill not be increased for that class for at least 6 academic years, except as adjusted for inflation, as specified.
01/31/13 Referred to Com. on HIGHER ED.
AB 178 ★ (Gaines) Highways: exit information signs. Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to adopt rules and regulations that allow the placement, near exits on freeways in rural areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses. Existing law prohibits the department from approving the placement of any sign within any urban area with a population of 5,000 or more. This bill would require the department to allow the placement of information signs within an urban area with a population of 50,000 or less if the urban area has had a highway bypass completed since 2002.
01/31/13 Referred to Com. on TRANS.
AB 242 ★ (Chau) Privacy: Internet. Existing law requires an operator of a commercial Web site or online service that collects personally identifiable information through the Internet, about individual consumers residing in California who use or visit its commercial Web site or online service, to make its privacy policy available to consumers, as specified. This bill would require the privacy policy to be no more than 100 words, be written in clear and concise language, be written at no greater than an 8th grade reading level, and to include a statement indicating whether the personally identifiable information may be sold or shared with others, and if so, how and with whom the information may be shared.
02/07/13 From printer. May be heard in committee March 9.
AB 266 ★ (Blumenfield) Vehicles: high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to designate certain lanes for the exclusive use of high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs), which lanes may also be used, until January 1, 2015, or until the Secretary of State receives a specified notice, by certain low-emission, hybrid, or alternative fuel vehicles not carrying the requisite number of passengers otherwise required for the use of an HOV lane, if the vehicle displays a valid identifier issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. A violation of provisions relating to HOV lane use by vehicles with those identifiers is a crime. This bill would extend the operation of those provisions to January 1, 2025, or until the Secretary of State receives that specified notice.
02/08/13 From printer. May be heard in committee March 10.
AB 298 ★ (Pan) Vehicles: license plates. Existing law, subject to exceptions, requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to, upon registering a vehicle, issue the owner 2 partially or fully reflectorized license plates. Existing law also authorizes the department to issue a variety of specialty license plates, as specified This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation authorizing the issuance of an agriculture license plate.
02/13/13 From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.
AB 317 ★ (Hall) Transportation: state highways. Existing law requires the California Transportation Commission to program interregional and regional transportation capital improvement projects through the State Transportation Improvement Program process, consistent with estimated available funding. Existing law sets forth specified program categories for which funds made available for transportation capital improvement projects may be programmed and expended. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
02/13/13 From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.
AB 401 ★ (Daly) State Highway Route 405. Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of the state highway system. Existing law includes State Highway Route 405 (Interstate 405) among the authorized routes in the state highway system. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would facilitate the construction of the Interstate 405 Improvement Project in the County of Orange.
02/15/13 Read first time. To print.
AB 405 ★ (Gatto) Highways: high-occupancy vehicle lanes: Route 134. Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation and local authorities, with respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions, to designate certain lanes for the exclusive or preferential use of high-occupancy vehicles. When those exclusive or preferential use lanes are established and double parallel solid lines are in place to the right thereof, existing law prohibits any person driving a vehicle from crossing over those double lines to enter into or exit from the lanes, and entrance or exit from those lanes is authorized only in areas designated for these purposes or where a single broken line is in place to the right of the lanes, except as specified. This bill would prohibit, until June 1, 2014, any high-occupancy vehicle lane from being established on Route 134 between Route 170 and I-5 unless that lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by the department. This bill would require any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane established at the specified location to be modified to conform with those requirements. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst to report to the Legislature on the impact on traffic by limiting the use of high-occupancy lanes as provided in the bill.
02/15/13 Read first time. To print.

Resolutions of interest under consideration by the California State Assembly

ACR 3 ★ (Logue) The CHP Officer Robert James Quirk Memorial Highway. This measure would designate a portion of I-5, in the County of Tehama, as the "California Highway Patrol Officer Robert James Quirk Memorial Highway".
01/18/13 Referred to Com. on TRANS.
ACR 14 ★ (Yamada) Deputy Tony Diaz, Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, Memorial Rest Area. This measure would designate the rest area in the Town of Dunnigan, California on I-5 as the Deputy Tony Diaz, Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, Memorial Rest Area.
02/12/13 From printer.
ACR 16 ★ (Hagman) Gerald “Blackie” Sawyer Memorial Highway. This measure would designate a specified portion of Route 39 (Beach Blvd.) in the City of La Mirada from Hillsborough Drive to Stage Road as the Gerald “Blackie” Sawyer Memorial Highway.
02/13/13 From printer.
ACR 18 ★ (Gorell) Seabees Memorial Highway. This measure would designate a portion of State Highway Route 1 in the County of Ventura from the milepost nearest to Point Mugu to South Rice Avenue in the City of Oxnard, as the Seabees Memorial Highway.◆ Note: This designation would duplicate the existing designation for the Vietnam Veterans Highway, as noted in this VC Star article. ◆
02/14/13 From printer.

Bills of interest under consideration by the California State Senate

SB 32 (Price) Public postsecondary education: student costs.
This bill would require the Trustees of the California State University, and would request the Regents of the University of California, to explore innovative ways of offering a bachelor’s degree to an individual student at a cost, as specified, in an amount of no more than $10,000.
01/10/13 Referred to Com. on ED.
SB 58 ★ (Cannella) Public postsecondary education: funding.
The bill, from the 2013–14 fiscal year to the 2018–19 fiscal year, inclusive, would prohibit mandatory systemwide fees or tuition charged to students of the California State University from exceeding the level of the mandatory systemwide fees or tuition charged to students of the California State University for the 2011–12 fiscal year. The bill, from the 2013–14 fiscal year to the 2018–19 fiscal year, inclusive, would prohibit the mandatory systemwide fees charged to students of the California Community Colleges from increasing beyond the level of the mandatory systemwide fees charged to students of the California Community Colleges for the 2011–12 fiscal year. The bill, from the 2013–14 fiscal year to the 2018–19 fiscal year, inclusive, would prohibit the mandatory systemwide fees or tuition charged to students of the University of California from exceeding the level of the mandatory systemwide fees or tuition charged to students of the University of California for the 2011–12 fiscal year.
01/17/13 Referred to Com. on ED.
SB 151 ★ (DeSaulnier) Vehicles: license plates.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon registering a motor vehicle, to issue a license plate or plates to the owner of the vehicle to identify the vehicle for which the plates are issued for the period of their validity. The license plates are required to be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, as specified, and to remain attached during the period of validity while the vehicle is being operated or held for sale within this state. Existing law authorizes the department to make appropriate rules and regulations for the use and display of stickers or devices issued in lieu of license plates, and to publish a summary thereof. This bill would repeal that latter provision.
02/14/13 Referred to Com. on T. & H.
SB 169 ★ (Emmerson) State highways: scenic highways.
Existing law authorizes the California Transportation Commission to adopt a location for a state highway alignment on routes authorized by law. Existing law provides that certain portions of authorized state highway routes are also within the state scenic highway system, subject to implementation through a corridor protection system designed to meet certain scenic highway standards. Existing law provides for the Department of Transportation to designate a particular state highway within the scenic highway system as an official state scenic highway upon determination by the department that a corridor protection program has been implemented, as specified. Existing law includes in the state scenic highway system the portion of Route 10 between Route 38 near Redlands and Route 62 near Whitewater in the Counties of San Bernardino and Riverside. This bill would revise the description of the portion of Route 10 included in the state scenic highway system by deleting the segment between postmiles 16.54 and 17.66 in the County of Riverside.
02/14/13 Referred to Com. on T. & H.
SB 209 ★ (Lieu) Vehicle License Fee Law.
The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of an ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee on specified vehicles subject to registration in this state in the amount of 0.65% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision..
02/12/13 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 14.
SB 209 ★ (Yee) Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zones.
Existing law requires that a state highway segment be designated as a Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zone if, among other requirements, the segment is eligible for designation and the Director of Transportation, in consultation with the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, certifies that the segment of state highway meets specified criteria. Existing law, until January 1, 2014, designates specific segments of State Highway Routes 1 and 101 in the City and County of San Francisco as Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zones, and requires a specified report from the department in that regard to be submitted to appropriate committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2013. Existing law requires fines for specified traffic violations cited in a Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zone to be doubled. This bill would delete the language relating to the report and permanently extend the designation of those specific highway segments as Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zones.
02/12/13 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 14.
SB 240 ★ (Yee) Polling places: higher education campuses.
Existing law requires elections officials to establish a convenient number of election precincts and designate a polling place for each precinct. Under existing law, the local elections official may request the use of school buildings as polling places. This bill would, for statewide general elections conducted by a county or city and county, require the county or city and county elections official to establish polling places within each campus of the California State University and the University of California, and would require the elections official to establish polling places within each community college if convenient for voters. The bill would not apply to counties or city and counties that have a population of fewer than 150,000 people. The bill would require the California State University and the California Community Colleges, and request the University of California, to provide access for the use of their campuses as polling places. By requiring county and city and county elections officials to perform new duties, and the California Community Colleges to provide access as polling places, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
02/13/13 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 15.
SB 314 ★ (Cannella) State Highway Route 25.
Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of all state highways. Existing law describes the authorized routes in the state highway system and establishes a process for adoption of a highway on an authorized route by the California Transportation Commission. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the route description of State Highway Route 25.
02/15/13 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
8&search_keywords=">SCA 8 (Corbett) Transportation projects: special taxes: voter approval.
This measure would provide that the imposition, extension, or increase of a special tax by a local government for the purpose of providing funding for transportation projects requires the approval of 55% of its voters voting on the proposition. The measure would also make conforming and technical, nonsubstantive changes.
02/14/13 Referred to Coms. on GOV. & F. and RLS.

Resolutions under consideration by the California State Senate

SCR 4 (Rubio) Vernon P. Valenzuela Memorial Highway.
Designates the portion of Route 204 between F Street and Q Street in the City of Bakersfield as the "Vernon P. Valenzuela Memorial Highway".
02/12/13 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on T. & H..
SCR 6 ★ (Wolk) Vallejo Police Officer James Capoot Memorial Highway.This measure would designate the portion of Route 37 between I-80 and Route 29 as the Vallejo Police Officer James Capoot Memorial Highway.
01/17/13 Re-referred to Com. on T. & H..

Bills/Resolutions sent to the Governor of Signature

None pending

Chaptered Bills/Resolutions: Entered into Law

None pending

Bills/Resolutions Vetoed

None pending

Dead, Inactive, Joint Rule 56, or Moribund Proposals

Alas, sometimes this proposals come back to life when a legislator wants to introduce a bill, but is past the bill introduction date. The bill or resolution is then amended beyond recognition and morphed into a new bill, often on a different subject.

None pending

Note: The Southern California Transit Advocates also has, among its regular news items, a Legislative Update page. Visit them at http://socata.net. This page summarizes bills of interest to transit folks (but ignores many highway only bills, especially naming bills).

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