Hill Authored Wide-reaching Laws

State Sen. Jerry Hill made the most of his final year in the Assembly. He sponsored 18 bills that became law. One has already gone into effect--AB 41, while AB 838 takes effect January 1, 2014.

The remaining 16 laws will go into effect Jan. 1, 2013.

Because of recent redistricting changes, Hill is now the new state Senator representing Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.

The senator's office provided this list of new laws from the desk of Jerry Hill:

AB 41 (Chapter 626, Statutes of 2012) - High-Speed Rail Authority Transparency

Requires High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) board members to disclose financial investments, closing a loophole that has allowed HSRA members to receive thousands of dollars from special interests while voting on issues that impact those very interests. The bill also requires that HSRA's internal peer reviewers do the same.

AB 45 (Chapter 461, Statutes of 2012) - Underage Drinking on Party Buses

Closes a loophole in current law that holds limousine operators, but not buses, responsible for underage drinking. The bill would require party bus companies to ask the person making a reservation if alcohol will be served and if there will be anyone on board under 21 years old. Under the legislation, an adult chaperone must be present if alcohol and persons under 21 will be on board. Bus companies will be subject to license suspension or revocation for non-compliance. Bus drivers will be subject to a misdemeanor if they do not comply and chaperones also will be subject to a misdemeanor for providing alcohol to a minor.

AB 374 (Chapter 364, Statutes of 2012) - Funeral Directors

Allows a funeral establishment to obtain an establishment license by submitting a request to secure a bond in lieu of an audit report. There are occasions when the owner of a funeral establishment dies, and the license is transferred to a new owner and it may be impossible to immediately submit an audit of the preneed trust funds in order to complete the assignment of the license. The inability to assign the funeral establishment license, and complete the transfer of ownership keeps funeral businesses from carrying on their business operations.

AB 578 (Chapter 462, Statutes of 2012) - Federal NTSB Safety Recommendations on Gas Pipeline Safety

Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to act on gas safety recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Before the San Bruno explosion in 2010, the NTSB had repeatedly recommended the installation of emergency shutoff valves, which might have shut off the gas to the fire in as few as five to 15 minutes instead of the 90 minutes it took PG&E to manually close the valves. Also, the explosion of a Cupertino condominium and a seven-hour fire in an intersection in Roseville were caused by a type of pipe that killed forty people in the 1990s and about which the NTSB had made recommendations that the PUC never acted on.

AB 838 (Chapter 341, Statutes of 2012) - Electronic Waybill (January 1, 2014)

Clarifies that a waybill, or trip report, used by charter party carriers such as limos and party buses, can be kept in either hard copy or electronic format. Waybills contain information such as the point of origin and destination of the traveling party and identifying information about the traveling party.

AB 861 (Chapter 464, Statutes of 2012) - Utility Incentive Compensation

Requires the Public Utilities Commission to determine the appropriate ratemaking treatment of bonus compensation for utility executives based on the utility's stock price or financial performance. Utilities are not typical corporations. They cannot increase their profit by increasing market share or selling more product. They cannot raise their revenue as the total amount they are able to recover in rates is set by the Public Utilities Commission. The only way a public utility can increase its profit is by cutting its operations and maintenance costs, as has been clearly demonstrated by PG&E in the years leading up to the San Bruno explosion.

AB 1277 (Chapter 688, Statutes of 2012) - Reduces Duplicative State and Federal Government Inspections

Streamlines duplicative inspections performed on biotechnology companies by the federal Food and Drug Administration and the state Food and Drug Branch. Clarifies that the federal FDA shall be responsible for initial and biennial inspections and the state FDB shall be responsible for taking action against companies in instances where the public's health and safety may be at risk.

AB 1301 (Chapter 335, Statutes of 2012) - Reducing Sales of Tobacco to Minors

Cracks down on stores that repeatedly sell tobacco products to minors by allowing the state to suspend and revoke a store's license instead of the current monetary penalties. If a store is convicted three times in a five-year window, its license would be suspended for 45 days. Five convictions in a five-year window would result in license revocation.

AB 1452 (Chapter 185, Statutes of 2012) - Child Safety Seats

Requires hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers, when discharging a child, to inform the parent where they can have a child passenger restraint system inspected and receive instruction on its proper installation at no cost. Over 90 percent of parents and caregivers believe their child safety seats are installed correctly, but National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research shows that seven out of 10 children are improperly restrained, putting them at risk for serious injury or death in a crash. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death of children, 3 to 14 years of age. Many of these deaths can be prevented through the proper use of child safety seats. According to NHTSA, child safety seats can reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers, 1 to 4 years of age.

AB 1456 (Chapter 469, Statutes of 2012) - Gas Safety Performance

Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop measures and standards for gas safety. The PUC's own Independent Review Panel criticized the PUC for not monitoring and enforcing safety performance at PG&E prior to the San Bruno explosion. This bill would require the PUC to determine what constitutes safe operation and give it the ability to assess penalties against utilities for poor performance.

AB 1718 (Chapter 193, Statutes of 2012) - Real Estate Broker Qualifications

Strengthens the requirement that potential real estate brokers have actual practical experience (at least two years) in the real estate field prior to obtaining their broker's license. Currently, it is possible to become a real estate broker - someone who supervises agents, reviews documents, and has other oversight responsibilities - without having any real-world experience in the real estate industry.

AB 1782 (Chapter 693, Statutes of 2012) - Weighmasters Exemption

Streamlines government regulation by removing a duplicative requirement that is currently required by two departments. The California Department of Public Health currently tracks and requires reporting for the hauling and disposal of medical waste in California to ensure that medical waste is properly counted, tracked and treated. This bill eliminates the duplication of the same process by the Department of Food and Agriculture, which requires that certified weighmaster manually record medical waste weight information and keep paper records.

AB 2019 (Chapter 642, Statutes of 2012) - Foster Family Home Protections

Prohibits insurance companies from denying or terminating homeowners insurance policies to those who are foster parents in certified foster family homes.

AB 2165 (Chapter 603, Statutes of 2012) - Increasing the Net Metering Cap for Fuel Cells

Expands fuel cell generation in the state fivefold by increasing the amount of clean electricity that generators can sell back to the grid. Fuel cells are a clean, low-carbon technology and are an important part of California's diverse renewable energy portfolio.

AB 2167 (Chapter 251, Statutes of 2012) - Bay Area Water Supply Conservation Agency Financing

Would help save up to $35 million for water customers in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Francisco counties by allowing the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency to issue bonds at a low interest rate for the repayment of drinking water infrastructure improvement costs.

AB 2372 (Chapter 125, Statutes of 2012) - Deposition Transcripts

Authorizes all service for orders of examination to an attorney to be effectuated through mail. This bill addresses a problem when an attorney refuses to pay the bills of the deposition reporters they retain, even after the licensed court reporter obtains a small claims judgment.

AB 2433 (Chapter 305, Statutes of 2012) - San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority

Clarifies that the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) shall use staggered terms for its board of directors to prevent all board members from terming out at the same time. This will help ensure that experienced members will serve alongside new members. WETA is comprised of five members who are appointed by the governor, Senate, and Assembly and is charged with building and operating a comprehensive and environmental friendly public water transit system of ferries, feeder buses and terminals to increase regional mobility in the Bay Area and improve the ability of ferries to respond in an emergency.

AB 2570 (Chapter 561, Statutes of 2012) - Eliminating Regulatory Gag Clauses

Allows the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to better investigate professional misconduct. Specifically, it forbids any licensee or professional overseen by DCAfrom including a "gag clause" in a civil settlement agreement that would prohibit an individual from communicating with DCA.

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