Transportation budget trailer bill.

This bill would instead require the department to reserve a minimum aggregate total of $30,000,000 of state transportation funds to be allocated in support of California's high road construction careers program.

(2) Existing law establishes priorities and procedures that any state agency disposing of surplus residential property is required to follow. Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to deposit proceeds from the sale of a surplus residential property from the department to a new owner into the SR-710 Rehabilitation Account. Existing law continuously appropriates the funds in the account to the department for the purpose of providing required repairs to certain surplus residential properties that are offered for sale, as provided. Existing law requires that the total funds maintained in the account not exceed $1,200,000 and that funds exceeding that amount, less any reimbursements due to the federal government, be transferred to the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund, to be used for allocation by the California Transportation Commission exclusively to fund projects located in specified cities and in the 90032 postal ZIP Code.

This bill would authorize an increase in the amount of the total funds maintained in the account to instead be up to $15,000,000. By authorizing an increase in the funds held in a continuously appropriated account, the bill would make an appropriation.

(3) Under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act, also known as the Transportation Development Act, transit operators are required to maintain specified ratios of fare revenue to operating costs in order to receive funds under the act. If a transit operator does not maintain the prescribed ratio of fare revenues to operating costs, the act requires a reduction in the amount of funding for which the transit operator would otherwise be eligible, as specified. The act suspends the imposition of those penalties on transit operators during the 2019–20 to 2025–26 fiscal years, inclusive.

This bill would suspend the imposition of those penalties through the 2026–27 fiscal year.

(4) The Transportation Development Act creates the State Transit Assistance Program, under which certain revenues in the Public Transportation Account are allocated by formula for public transportation purposes. The act requires a transit operator to receive its entire allocation under the program, and authorizes the operator to use any or all of that allocation for operating purposes, if it meets one of 2 specified efficiency standards. If the operator fails to meet either of those efficiency standards, existing law reduces the amount of the operator's allocation available for operating purposes by a specified percentage and requires that amount to be used by the operator for capital purposes. The act exempts a transit operator from meeting either of those efficiency standards for the 2020–21 to 2025–26 fiscal years, inclusive, and authorizes the operator to use those funds for operating or capital purposes during that period.

This bill would extend that exemption through the 2026–27 fiscal year.

(5) Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state. Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority Office of the Inspector General and authorizes the High-Speed Rail Authority Inspector General to initiate an audit or review regarding oversight related to delivery of the high-speed rail project undertaken by the authority and the selection and oversight of contractors related to that project.

This bill would require the Inspector General, upon completion of an audit or review, to publish a complete report on its internet website, provide notification of the published report to the Governor and the High-Speed Rail Authority, and submit a copy of the report to the Legislature. The bill would authorize the Inspector General to hold that report, or a portion of that report, confidential, as specified, if the Inspector General determines that the report, or portion of the report, would describe or otherwise reveal weaknesses that would pose a substantial and articulable risk to the project or to state operations if publicly disclosed. If the Inspector General makes that determination, the bill would require the Inspector General, among other things, to deliver a confidential report to state officials with oversight of the project, as specified.

This bill would require all books, papers, records, and correspondence of the office to be public records subject to the California Public Records Act, but would prohibit the Inspector General or the employees of the Inspector General from releasing certain types of records to the public, except under specified circumstances. The bill would prohibit the Inspector General from destroying any papers or memoranda used to support a completed audit or review sooner than 3 years after the corresponding report is published or delivered, as specified.

Existing law authorizes the Inspector General to access certain records and property and requires an officer or employee of any agency or entity having those records or property in their possession or under their control to permit access to, and examination and reproduction of, those records or property, upon the request of the Inspector General, as specified.

This bill would specify that providing confidential information to the Inspector General under these circumstances does not constitute a waiver of that confidentiality.

Existing law requires the Inspector General to report at least annually to the Legislature and the Governor a summary of its findings of any reviews, investigations, or audits, when the High-Speed Rail Authority provides statutorily required documents to the Legislature, and upon request of the Legislature or the Governor.

This bill would instead require the Inspector General to report at least annually to the Legislature and the Governor a summary of its findings of any reviews, investigations, or audits published pursuant to the above-described provisions at the beginning of each fiscal year and upon request of the Legislature or the Governor.

(6) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to, upon registration of a vehicle, issue a certificate of ownership to the legal owner and a registration card to the owner, or both the certificate and the registration card to the owner, if there is no legal owner of the vehicle.

This bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations for the issuance and acceptance of an electronic certificate of title or electronic certificate of ownership, as specified.

(7) Existing federal regulations require a state, prior to issuing a REAL ID driver's license or REAL ID identification card, to check with all other states, using the State-to-State Verification Service, to determine if an applicant currently holds a REAL ID driver's license or REAL ID identification card in another state. Existing law requires specified forms filed with the department to contain a social security account number. Existing law provides that information provided on those forms regarding a driver's license or identification card applicant's social security account number or ineligibility for a social security account number is not a public record and is not subject to disclosure by the department, except for specified reasons.

This bill would authorize the department to participate in the State-to-State Verification Service, or any successor system, if operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, as specified. The bill would require the department to report on its participation in the service or system, annually provide its report to the budget and relevant policy committees of the Legislature, and publish the report on its internet website. The bill would require that the report include, among other things, each participating jurisdiction's number of requests made directly to the state and information on any unusual requests or patterns in the data that indicate a participating jurisdiction is using the service or system for unauthorized purposes. The bill would also require the department, with the advice of stakeholders sitting on an advisory group, as specified, to adopt and maintain a State-to-State Verification Service Monitoring Plan to detect, prevent, and respond to requests for, or uses of, information through the service system for an unauthorized purpose. The bill would require the department to provide the budget and relevant policy committees with a draft version of the plan by February 1, 2027, and a final plan by July 1, 2027. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to commence an action against the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a participating jurisdiction, or another individual or entity, or on behalf of certain individuals, to enforce these provisions, as specified.

This bill would expand the above-described exceptions by permitting the department to disclose specified information to participate in the State-to-State Verification Service for the sole purpose of verifying and exchanging driver's license, identification card, and driver history records with participating jurisdictions.

(8) Existing law requires the department to publish a summary or synopsis of the laws regulating the operation of a vehicle and the use of the highways. Existing law requires the department to publish as many copies of the summary or synopsis in Spanish as the director of the department determines are needed. Existing law requires the department to provide the summary or synopsis in English and Spanish to its field offices and to law enforcement without charge.

This bill would require the department to publish the summary or synopsis on its internet website and would eliminate the other requirements described above pertaining to the summary or synopsis.

(9) Existing law authorizes the department to provide electronic notification under certain circumstances if the department establishes certain conditions, including, among others, that the department has identified the person before accepting their consent to receive the type of document or information that is electronically delivered and the person has consented to the electronic receipt of the document or information delivered.

This bill would delete the conditions described above and instead authorize the department to provide electronic notification if the person has been identified by the department and has provided the department with an email address or other similar electronic address, and the department has informed the person that the department will use the electronic address provided to deliver a type of document or information electronically and that the person will not receive a separate paper copy by mail or other means, as specified.

(10) Existing law authorizes the department to charge a service fee of not more than $15, in addition to other fees payable under the Vehicle Code, for the completion of specified services at the department's headquarters office in Sacramento within 72 hours after receipt of a complete and proper application for the service.

This bill would repeal this provision.

(11) Existing law requires an application for renewal of a driver's license to be made at a department office by the person to whom the license was issued. Existing law requires renewal of a license to be under the terms and conditions prescribed by the department. Existing law authorizes the department to require an applicant to take certain examinations for renewal, as specified. Existing law requires that a person who is required to pass a knowledge examination in order to renew their driver's license be provided with written notice of that requirement in their driver's license renewal notice.

This bill would delete the written notice requirement described above.

(12) Existing law authorizes the department to establish a pilot program to evaluate the use of optional mobile or digital alternatives to driver's licenses and identification cards, subject to certain requirements, including, among others, the voluntary participation of persons in the program and limiting participation in the program to 15% of licensed drivers.

This bill would increase the limit on participation in the program to 60% of licensed drivers.

(13) Existing law, until January 1, 2029, authorizes the Department of Transportation and local authorities to temporarily permit exclusive or preferential use of HOV lanes, high-occupancy toll lanes, and other lanes for vehicles displaying a distinctive decal, label, or other identifier issued by the organizers of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games that clearly distinguishes the vehicle is being operated on the games route network during a 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games period, as specified.

This bill would, until January 1, 2029, authorize the Department of Transportation, on highways in its jurisdiction, in consultation with state, local, and regional authorities and other relevant stakeholders, to establish a program of automated enforcement of drivers that fail to obey the directions of a traffic control device establishing the games route network during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games period. The bill would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with a local authority or regional transportation agency to administer a program pursuant to these provisions or to become the program operator, as specified. The bill would authorize a program operator to enter into contracts with manufacturers, suppliers, and vendors for purposes of the automated enforcement system, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require each program operator that is not the department to report information to the department, as it requests, to conduct an evaluation of the program.

This bill would require a program operator of an automated enforcement system to administer a public information campaign before implementation of the system and to issue warning letters before issuing notices of violations, as specified. The bill would require that a notice of violation be issued in writing to the registered owner of the vehicle within 15 days of the date of the violation, as specified. The bill would establish procedures to review and contest a notice of violation, as specified, and would require the administrative hearing process to include, among other things, the ability for the person requesting the hearing the option to choose a hearing upon written declaration, video conference, or in person.

This bill would impose a civil penalty for improper use of the games route network recorded by an automated enforcement system, as provided, and would specify that these violations shall not result in the Department of Motor Vehicles suspending or revoking driving privileges, preventing registration renewals, or assessing violation points against driving records.

This bill would establish the Games Route Network Account in the State Transportation Fund and direct moneys generated from the automated enforcement program into the account. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys from the account to support the administration of the automated enforcement program and to be transferred to the State Highway Account or the Motor Vehicle Account to cover the Department of Transportation's cost for the construction, maintenance, and deconstruction of the games route network or to the Department of the California Highway Patrol to cover their enforcement efforts related to the games route network. By establishing a new continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.

The bill would make any photographic image or administrative records made by an automated enforcement system pursuant to these provisions or information obtained from the Department of Motor Vehicles for the administration and enforcement of these provisions confidential.

(14) Existing law authorizes the department to issue a distinguishing placard to a disabled veteran or person with a disability, upon application, to be displayed upon a parked vehicle for the purpose of identifying eligibility for certain parking privileges. Existing law requires the placard to meet specified requirements, including that a portion of the placard be printed in a contrasting color to be changed every 2 years and that the size and color of the contrasting portion of the placard be large and distinctive to be readily identifiable by a law enforcement officer in a passing vehicle.

This bill would remove the size and contrasting color requirements for the placard expiration date.

(15) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(16) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.