Similarly to last year, we’ll be listing legislation in bill order starting with the Assembly and then moving on to the Senate in a predictable format:
This first list of legislation only covers legislation Streetsblog has previously reported on. In the coming weeks, future updates will include more legislation as we cover more bills and as other groups release "watch lists" or "legislative agendas" (such as this one from Calbike).
Assembly Legislation
Assembly Bill 1421, Vehicles: Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee, creates a study, directs the California Transportation Commission to continue and deepen a study into whether a road usage charge could eventually serve as an alternative to the state’s traditional gas tax. Passed the Assembly and was assigned to the Rules Committee in the Senate.
This is the legislation that created a stir with right-wing influencers who told followers either that it would replace the gas tax with a vehicle miles traveled fee, that it was already passed and would do so, or would add a VMT fee to the existing gas tax. In both article and short video, Streetsblog explained how none that was not true.
Assembly Bill 1546, Vehicles driving under the influence, would increase penalties for repeat DUI offenders to bring California law more in line with other states. Assigned to Public Safety Committee.
Assembly Bill 1557, Vehicles: Electric Bicycles, would limit the motor output of e-bikes sold in the state to a maximum of 750 watts, aligning with existing federal e-bike definitions. Assigned to Transportation Committee. Streetsblog covered the introduction of this legislation.
Assembly Bill 1599: Public transit: California Transit Stop Registry: transit datasets, would create a statewide unique identifier for every transit stop. Assigned to the Transportation Committee. We discussed this legislation in episode 14.1 of StreetSmart.
Assembly Bill 1662, Driving record: points: misdemeanor diversion, would change existing law so that drivers who avoid fines through a court-mandated misdemeanor diversion program would still receive points on their driving record. Assigned to Public Safety, and Transportation Committees. Streetsblog covered the introduction of this legislation as part of a package of bills meant to reduce the number of DUI deaths.
Assembly Bill 1740, Coastal resources: coastal development permits: urban multi-modal communities: bicycle facilities, would allow qualifying cities to bypass individual California Coastal Commission approvals for certain housing and transportation projects if they meet specific urban, multimodal criteria. Assigned to Natural Resources, and Housing and Community Development Committees. Streetsblog covered this legislation when it was introduced.
Assembly Bill 1942, the E-Bike Accountability Act, would require owners of Class 2 and Class 3 electric bicycles to register those bikes with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and display a special license plate issued by the DMV. Assigned to the Transportation Committee.
Streetsblog has already covered this legislation twice, both when it was introduced and the backlash from advocacy groups that feel it is the wrong fix to problems associated with e-motos.
Assembly Bill 2276, The Stop Super Speeders Act, would create a statewide pilot program requiring reckless and excessive speed offenders to install active intelligent speed assistance (ISA) devices in their vehicles as a condition of regaining driving privileges. Is awaiting committee assignment. Streetsblog covered this legislation when it was introduced.
Senate Legislation
Senate Bill 677, Housing development: transit-oriented development, aims to strengthen California’s transit-oriented housing laws by closing loopholes used by cities to evade development requirements. The bill expands definitions to include high-frequency ferry service and reinforces mandates for building housing near major transit stops. Passed Senate, awaiting committee assignment in Assembly.
This legislation is related to Senate Bill 79 that was extensively covered last year. Streetsblog covered SB 677 in an article about Los Angeles Metro's attempts to avoid enforcing SB 79.
Senate Bill 1035, Motor vehicle fuel tax: greenhouse gas reduction programs: suspension, would suspend the state gas tax and other fuel charges for one year. Assigned to the Senate Environmental Quality and Revenue & Taxation Committees. Hearing Set in EQ Committee for 3/18.
Streetsblog covered this legislation when it was introduced and critiqued it in a short video.
Senate Bill 1167, Vehicles: Electric Bicycles, seeks to define the differences between e-bikes and e-motos. Assigned to Assembly Transportation AND Natural Resources and Water Committees. We discussed this legislation in episode 14.1 of StreetSmart.
Senate Bill 1411, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: funding conditions: high-speed rail, would lift restrictions limiting high-speed rail spending to the Merced–Bakersfield segment. That could accelerate work in Southern California or toward the Bay Area. Assigned to the Transportation and Environmental Quality Committees. We discussed this legislation in episode 14.2 of StreetSmart.
