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AB-660 Department of Motor Vehicles: records: pull-notice system.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 02/12/2021 09:00 PM
AB660:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 660

Introduced by Assembly Member Cooper

February 12, 2021

An act to amend Section 1808.1 of the Vehicle Code, relating to the Department of Motor Vehicles.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 660, as introduced, Cooper. Department of Motor Vehicles: records: pull-notice system.
Existing law requires a prospective employer of a driver of specified vehicles, such as a permitted taxicab, to obtain a report from the Department of Motor Vehicles that shows the driver’s current public record. Existing law requires an employer of a driver who drives a specified vehicle to participate in a pull-notice system, which is a process for the purpose of providing the employer with a report showing the driver’s current public record, and any subsequent convictions, failures to appear, accidents, driver’s license suspensions, driver’s license revocations, or any other actions taken against the driving privilege or certificate, added to the driver’s record while the employer’s notification request remains valid and has not been canceled. Existing law also requires the employer of the driver to obtain a periodic report from the department at least every 12 months. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would expand the applicability of these provisions, including the pull-notice system, to include drivers of vehicles operated in the service of a delivery network company, a transportation network company, a charter-party carrier, as defined, or operated for compensation in fulfillment of deliveries, as defined. By expanding the class of drivers subject to these provisions, this bill would expand the scope of an existing crime and create a state-mandated local program. The bill would also establish that a prospective employee’s consent allowing an employer to obtain an initial report is sufficient for the continued monitoring of that driver’s record under the pull-notice system.
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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 1808.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:

1808.1.
 (a) The prospective employer of a driver who drives a vehicle specified in subdivision (k) shall obtain a report showing the driver’s current public record as recorded by the department. For purposes of this subdivision, a report is current if it was issued less than 30 days before the date the employer employs the driver. The report shall be reviewed, signed, and dated by the employer and maintained at the employer’s place of business until receipt of the pull-notice system report pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c). These reports shall be presented upon request to an authorized representative of the Department of the California Highway Patrol during regular business hours.
(b) The employer of a driver who drives a vehicle specified in subdivision (k) shall participate in a pull-notice system, which is a process for the purpose of providing the employer with a report showing the driver’s current public record as recorded by the department, and any subsequent convictions, failures to appear, accidents, driver’s license suspensions, driver’s license revocations, or any other actions taken against the driving privilege or certificate, added to the driver’s record while the employer’s notification request remains valid and uncanceled. As used in this section, participation in the pull-notice system means obtaining a requester code and enrolling all employed drivers who drive a vehicle specified in subdivision (k) under that requester code.
(c) The employer of a driver of a vehicle specified in subdivision (k) shall, additionally, obtain a periodic report from the department at least every 12 months. The employer shall verify that each employee’s driver’s license has not been suspended or revoked, the employee’s traffic violation point count, and whether the employee has been convicted of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153. The report shall be signed and dated by the employer and maintained at the employer’s principal place of business. The report shall be presented upon demand to an authorized representative of the Department of the California Highway Patrol during regular business hours.
(d) Upon the termination of a driver’s employment, the employer shall notify the department to discontinue the driver’s enrollment in the pull-notice system.
(e) For the purposes of the pull-notice system and periodic report process required by subdivisions (b) and (c), an owner, other than an owner-operator as defined in Section 34624, and an employer who drives a vehicle described in subdivision (k) shall be enrolled as if he or she they were an employee. A family member and a volunteer driver who drives a vehicle described in subdivision (k) shall also be enrolled as if he or she they were an employee.
(f) An employer who, after receiving a driving record pursuant to this section, employs or continues to employ as a driver a person against whom a disqualifying action has been taken regarding his or her their driving privilege or required driver’s certificate, is guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement in a county jail for not more than six months, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that confinement and fine.
(g) As part of its inspection of bus maintenance facilities and terminals required at least once every 13 months pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 34501, the Department of the California Highway Patrol shall determine whether each transit operator, as defined in Section 99210 of the Public Utilities Code, is then in compliance with this section and Section 12804.6, and shall certify each operator found to be in compliance. Funds shall not be allocated pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 99200) of Part 11 of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code to a transit operator that the Department of the California Highway Patrol has not certified pursuant to this section.
(h) (1) A request to participate in the pull-notice system established by this section shall be accompanied by a fee determined by the department to be sufficient to defray the entire actual cost to the department for the notification service. For the receipt of subsequent reports, the employer shall also be charged a fee established by the department pursuant to Section 1811. An employer who qualifies pursuant to Section 1812 shall be exempt from any fee required pursuant to this section. Failure to pay the fee shall result in automatic cancellation of the employer’s participation in the notification services.
(2) A regularly organized fire department, having official recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district in which the department is located, shall participate in the pull-notice program and shall not be subject to the fee established pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) The Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun, and its port agent shall participate in the pull-notice system established by this section, subject to Section 1178.5 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, and shall not be subject to the fees established pursuant to this subdivision.
(i) The department, as soon as feasible, may establish an automatic procedure to provide the periodic reports to an employer by mail or via an electronic delivery method, as required by subdivision (c), on a regular basis without the need for individual requests.
(j) (1) The employer of a driver who is employed as a casual driver is not required to enter that driver’s name in the pull-notice system, as otherwise required by subdivision (a). However, the employer of a casual driver shall be in possession of a report of the driver’s current public record as recorded by the department, before allowing a casual driver to drive a vehicle specified in subdivision (k). A report is current if it was issued less than six months before the date the employer employs the driver.
(2) For the purposes of this subdivision, a driver is employed as a casual driver when the employer has employed the driver less than 30 days during the preceding six months. “Casual driver” does not include a driver who operates a vehicle that requires a passenger transportation endorsement.
(k) This section applies to a vehicle for the operation of which the driver is required to have a class A or class B driver’s license, a class C license with any an endorsement issued pursuant to Section 15278, a class C license issued pursuant to Section 12814.7, or a certificate issued pursuant to Section 12517, 12519, 12520, 12523, 12523.5, or 12527, a passenger vehicle having a seating capacity of not more than 10 persons, including the driver, operated for compensation by a charter-party carrier of passengers or passenger stage corporation pursuant to a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a permit issued by the Public Utilities Commission, a vehicle driven by a participating driver of a transportation network company as described in subdivision (a) of Section 5431 of the Public Utilities Code, a vehicle driven by a charter-party carrier of passengers as defined in subdivision (r) of Section 7463 of the Business and Professions Code, a passenger vehicle operated for a delivery network company as described in subdivision (f) of Section 7463 of the Business and Professions Code, a vehicle operated for compensation in fulfillment of delivery requests meaning the pickup and delivery of an item, or a permitted taxicab company as described in Section 53075.5 of the Government Code.
(l) This section shall not be construed to change the definition of “employer,” “employee,” or “independent contractor” for any purpose.
(m) A motor carrier who contracts with a person to drive a vehicle described in subdivision (k) that is owned by, or leased to, that motor carrier, is subject to subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (j), (k), and (l) and the employer obligations in those subdivisions.
(n) Delivery network companies as described in Section 7463 of the Business and Professions Code and companies that contract with a person who is not an employee to drive a vehicle operated for compensation for fulfillment of delivery requests, meaning the pickup from any location of any item or items and the delivery of the items, are subject to subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (j), (k), and (l) and the employer obligations in those subdivisions.

(n)

(o) Reports issued pursuant to this section, but only those for a driver of a taxicab engaged in transportation service as described in subdivision (a) of Section 53075.5 of the Government Code, shall be presented upon request, during regular business hours, to an authorized representative of the administrative agency responsible for issuing permits to taxicab transportation services pursuant to Section 53075.5 of the Government Code.
(p) Notwithstanding any other law, after a driver’s consent is obtained by a prospective employer or its authorized agent for an initial report pursuant to subdivision (a), no additional consent shall be required for the continued monitoring in the pull-notice system of that driver’s current public record pursuant to this section.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.