Existing law requires all schoolbuses to be equipped with certain safety features, as specified. Existing law requires, on or before the beginning of the 201819 school year, schoolbuses, school pupil activity buses, except as provided, youth buses, and child care motor vehicles to be equipped with a an operational child safety alert system, which is a device located at the interior rear of a vehicle that requires the driver to either manually contact or scan the device before exiting the vehicle, thereby prompting the driver to inspect the entirety of the interior of the vehicle before exiting.

This bill would limit that requirement to those buses or vehicles that transport special needs pupils and would postpone that requirement until 6 months after the beginning of the 201920 201819 school year. year for those buses or vehicles that do not transport special needs pupils.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the California Financing Law (CFL), provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers, and, beginning on January 1, 2019, program administrators, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license. Existing law defines a finance lender as any person who is engaged in making consumer loans or commercial loans, as defined. The CFL prohibits a licensee from making a materially false or misleading statement to a borrower about the terms or conditions of a loan. A willful violation of the CFL is a crime, except as specified.

This bill would require any person who engages in the business of small business financing to provide to the prospective borrower a written statement showing in clear and distinct terms specified information regarding that transaction, including the APR related to that transaction, all upfront charges, the total amount provided to the borrower, payment amount and frequency, and collateral requirements. The bill would require that disclosure be provided at the time the financing is offered, and at the time of closing. The bill would require that statement to be in writing in a form that is clear, complete, and easy to compare with other options. The bill would prohibit any person who engages in the business of small business financing from engaging in abusive practices. The bill would define the term small business financing for these purposes to mean a commercial loan of a principal amount that is less than $1,000,000, or a cash advance to a business that is less than $1,000,000, except as provided. By expanding the scope of an existing crime with respect to violations of the CFL, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 1269

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 12-0, 5/1/18

AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Dodd, Galgiani, McGuire, Morrell, Roth, Skinner, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wiener

NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill postpones the enactment date for certain school bus safety requirements, as specified.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires school officials to develop transportation safety plans.
2. Requires enhanced certification to become a school bus driver.
3. Authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to refuse to issue or renew such certification if certain specified crimes or misconduct has occurred.
4. Requires specialized equipment in school buses such as seat belts and external lighting systems.
5. Requires all school buses to be equipped with certain safety features, as specified.
6. Requires, on or before the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, school buses, school pupil activity buses, except as provided, youth buses, and child care motor vehicles to be equipped with a “child safety alert system,” as defined.
7. Specifies that a child safety alert system is a device located at the interior rear of a vehicle that requires the driver to either manually contact or scan the device before exiting the vehicle.

This bill:

1. Specifies that school buses, school pupil activity buses, youth buses, and child care motor vehicles that transport special needs pupils are required to meet the 2018-2019 timeline as directed in SB 1072 (Mendoza, Chapter 721, Statutes of 2016).
2. Extends the implementation date for six months from the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year requiring all school buses, school pupil activity bus, as specified, youth bus, and child care motor vehicle are to be equipped with an operational child safety alert system.

Comments

1. Purpose. According to the author, “Last year, Senate Bill 1072 (Mendoza) enacted the Paul Lee School Bus Safety Law, which requires, on or before the beginning of the 2018–19 school year, school buses to be equipped with a ‘child safety alert system.’ A variety of reasons has made strict compliance of SB 1072’s requirements difficult to meet for many school districts across California. One major issue that prevents the speedy implementation of SB 1072’s requirements is that over 24,000 buses are competing for child safety alert systems which have only recently been developed and are currently sold out. Schools districts have reported being placed on waiting lists by the manufacturers of these devices that extend months out. In order to prevent the disruption of transportation services school districts offer California students this bill provides school districts with an additional year to install the Child Safety Alert System devices necessary to comply with SB 1072.”
2. SB 1072. In 2016, SB 1072 was introduced to implement additional safety measures for pupils riding school buses. At that time, the author of SB 1072 identified eight incidents in 2012 where a student was left alone on a school bus. SB 1072 aimed to remedy this issue by requiring a school bus driver to walk to the back of the bus to deactivate an alert system before exiting the bus. The bill required all school buses to install these child safety alert systems prior to the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. SB 1072 ultimately passed out of the Senate on a 39-0 vote.
3. Implementation. Since the bill’s enactment, a number of stakeholder groups have indicated that the 2018 timeline will be difficult to meet due to a variety of implementation issues. Several of these issues include:
   1. Lack of supply — many districts are on a waiting list for child alert safety devices.
   2. Lack of time to install — the installation time for each alert device is approximately 10 hours. Additionally, school bus fleets are made up of a variety of bus makes and models; preventing a one installation plan fits all approach. Lastly, for larger school districts, the cost of the installation requires the district to go to bid, which further extends the completion times.
   3. Lack of installers — according to the author, the largest manufacturer of the alert devices does not have any in-house installers and is in turn referring districts to a number of other installers. The author notes there are only three other installers in the state, leaving many districts to rely on in-house mechanics.
4. Urgency. This bill includes an urgency measure which will require a two-thirds vote on the Senate Floor.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/9/18)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/9/18)

None received

Prepared by:

5/9/18 13:30:04

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING

Senator Jim Beall, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: Hearing Date: 5/1/2018

SUBJECT:

DIGEST: This bill postpones the enactment date for certain school bus safety requirements for one year.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires school officials to develop transportation safety plans.
2. Requires enhanced certification to become a school bus driver.
3. Authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to refuse to issue or renew such certification if certain specified crimes or misconduct has occurred.
4. Requires specialized equipment in school buses such as seat belts and external lighting systems.
5. Requires all school buses to be equipped with certain safety features, as specified.
6. Requires, on or before the beginning of the 2018–19 school year, school buses, school pupil activity buses, except as provided, youth buses, and child care motor vehicles to be equipped with a “child safety alert system,” as defined.
7. Specifies that a child safety alert system is a device located at the interior rear of a vehicle that requires the driver to either manually contact or scan the device before exiting the vehicle.

This bill:

1. Extends the implementation date that all school buses, school pupil activity bus, as specified, youth bus, and child care motor vehicle are to be equipped with an operational child safety alert system from the school year beginning in 2018 to the 2019 school year.

COMMENTS

1. Purpose. According to the author, “Last year, Senate Bill 1072 (Mendoza) enacted the Paul Lee School Bus Safety Law, which requires, on or before the beginning of the 2018–19 school year, school buses to be equipped with a “child safety alert system.” A variety of reasons has made strict compliance of SB 1072’s requirements difficult to meet for many school districts across California. One major issue that prevents the speedy implementation of SB 1072’s requirements is that over 24,000 buses are competing for child safety alert systems which have only recently been developed and are currently sold out. Schools districts have reported being placed on waiting lists by the manufacturers of these devices that extend months out. In order to prevent the disruption of transportation services school districts offer California students this bill provides school districts with an additional year to install the Child Safety Alert System devices necessary to comply with SB 1072.”
2. Prior legislation. In 2016, SB 1072 (Chapter 721, Statutes of 2016) was introduced to implement additional safety measures for pupils riding school buses. At that time, the author of SB 1072 identified eight incidents in 2012 where a student was left alone on a school bus. SB 1072 aimed to remedy this issue by requiring a school bus driver to walk to the back of the bus to deactivate an alert system before exiting the bus. The bill required all school buses to install these child safety alert systems prior to the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. SB 1072 ultimately passed out of the Senate on a 39-0 vote.
3. Implementation. Since bill’s enactment, a number of stakeholder groups have indicated that the 2018 timeline will be difficult to meet due to a variety of implementation issues. Several of these issues include:
4. Lack of supply — many districts are on a waiting list for child alert safety devices.
5. Lack of time to install — the installation time for each alert device is approximately 10 hours. Additionally, school bus fleets are made up of a variety of bus makes and models; preventing a one installation plan fits all approach. Lastly, for larger school districts, the cost of the installation requires the district to go to bid, which further extends the completion times.
6. Lack of installers — according to the author, the largest manufacturer of the alert devices does not have any in-house installers and is in turn referring districts to a number of other installers. The author notes there are only three other installers in the state, leaving many districts to rely on in-house mechanics.

On the other hand, writing in opposition to the bill, the State Council on Developmental Disabilities notes that the Council does not believe delayed implementation is necessary as “CHP met the statutory requirements for regulations. A manufacturer is producing plenty of devices that meet CHP’s specifications. Installation instructions are easily accessible and school districts have already purchased 12,000 devices to meet this requirement.”

This bill will provide school districts across the state with an additional year to meet the child safety alert system requirements as specified in SB 1072.

1. Urgency. This bill includes an urgency measure which will require a two-thirds vote on the Senate Floor.

Related Legislation:

SB 1072 (Chapter 721, Statutes of 2016, Mendoza) — required on or before the 2018-19 school year, school buses, other specified buses which transport students, and child care motor vehicles to be equipped with an operational child safety alert system. The bill also included other conforming changes.

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

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday,

April 25, 2018.)

SUPPORT:

California Association of School Business Officials (sponsor)

California Association of School Transportation Officials (sponsor)

Los Angeles Unified School District

OPPOSITION:

State Council on Developmental Disabilities

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