Politics & Government

State Senate OK's New Mountain Lion, Drunk Driving Bills

The bills next go the the state Assembly for consideration.

A bundle of bills introduced by State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, have cleared the state Senate and are moving on to be heard by the Assembly, Hill's office announced this week.

The bills include legislation that would require individuals convicted of a second driving under-the-influence offense to install and use an Ignition Interlock Device, as well as an increase in protection for mountain lions.

Other bills would put to rest concerns that the California High-Speed Rail Authority may revisit a four-track option in the Peninsula that would disrupt communities; and continue Hill’s multi-year effort to reform the California Public Utilities Commission in the aftermath of the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. 

Below are summaries on some of the measures. For more information on Hill’s legislation go tohttp://sd13.senate.ca.gov/2013-legislation

SB 55 – Ignition Interlock Devices for Repeat DUI Offenders

Requires an individual convicted of a second driving-under-the-influence offense to install and use an IID for one year before full driving privileges are restored. A third DUI conviction would result in IID installation and use for two years; a fourth or subsequent DUI conviction would require use of an IID for three years. Under current law, installation of IIDs is optional for repeat offenders. About 20 percent of those who have a choice of installing an IID or driving on a restricted license opt for IID installation. In 2009, the most recent year in which conviction data is available, drunk drivers killed more than 1,200 people and injured 26,000 in California.  Repeat DUI offenders were responsible for a third of the deaths and two-thirds of the injuries.  At least 24 other states require IID's for repeat offenders.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Traffic Safety Facts 2009: Alcohol-Impaired Driving, drivers with previous driving while impaired (DWI) convictions pose a substantial risk of offending again. Data show that legally impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have a prior DWI conviction than drivers who had not been drinking.  Data from New Mexico’s IID program shows that multiple offender re-arrest rates for those with IIDs were 66% lower than the re-arrest rates of those without interlock devices.  The National Transportation Safety Board supports the bill stating, “if all (U.S.) drivers with at least one alcohol impaired driving conviction…used an IID, approximately 1,100 deaths could be prevented per year.”

SB 557 – High-Speed Rail – Peninsula Protections

Would put to rest concerns on the Peninsula that the California High-Speed Rail Authority may revisit a four-track option. The new legislation would provide local agencies like Caltrain with veto-authority if the High-Speed Rail Authority ever wanted to expand to a four-track system.  The bill also closes potential loopholes to make sure that funds cannot be transferred from the Peninsula segment to other segments of the high-speed project. It also clarifies that the $1.1 billion appropriated by the legislature last year will include $600 million for Caltrain electrification.  It further clarifies that funds from Proposition 1A, the high-speed bond measure approved by voters in 2008, will be used solely to implement a rail system along the San Francisco to San Jose segment that primarily consists of a two-track blended system.

SB 132 – Mountain Lion Protection

Requires the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to utilize nonlethal options when responding to mountain lion incidents that don’t pose an immediate risk to humans.  Current state regulations do not give DFW much flexibility when mountain lions venture into areas populated by humans like the incidents that resulted in the Half Moon shootings in December 2012 and another mountain lion shooting in Redwood City in 2011. Hill’s legislation will also authorize the DFW to partner with wildlife groups and nonprofits when responding to such incidents if there is no imminent threat to human life.  Current law doesn’t clearly authorize DFW to utilize the assistance of wildlife groups throughout the state even though they could help tranquilize and capture mountain lions.

CPUC REFORMS
 SB 48 - Integrity of Utility Customer-Funded Research

In December, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a $150 million dollar rate hike for a research project that had never been evaluated for scientific merit.  This bill enhances the CPUC’s financial accountability and policy oversight by requiring that all ratepayer-funded energy research proposals requesting more than $1.5 million a year for sole source research contracts undergo peer review by independent experts. Peer review is the gold standard for evaluating research proposals, and it is required for nearly all federally-funded energy research projects.

SB 291 – CPUC Staff Citation Authority for Electrical Violations

Every year an average of ten people are killed by CPUC-regulated electrical facilities.  This bill requires that the CPUC develop procedures to delegate citation authority for gas and electric violations to CPUC staff.  Following a recommendation from the Independent Review Panel into the San Bruno explosion and a me-too from the NTSB, the CPUC has already adopted such a resolution to do so for gas safety violations (December 1, 2011), but has not done so for electric violations.

SB 611 – Strengthening Utility Customer Advocacy

A recent audit of the CPUC demonstrated that the CPUC had been exercising undue control over the finances of its Division of Ratepayer Advocates—the division responsible for advocating to keep utility bills low and ensuring safe and reliable service.  This meddling by the CPUC has impaired DRA’s ability to fulfill its responsibility.  This bill strengthens the DRA by giving it more control of its finances, allowing it to employ its own legal resources instead of borrowing lawyers from the CPUC, and reinforcing the due process rights of customers by clarifying that DRA may challenge CPUC decisions. 


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