California 2009-2010 Regular Session Status: Enacted

AB 698 — Utility property.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 370, Statutes of 2009.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 26, 2009. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 70% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 6 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. The existing Public Utilities Act prohibits, with certain exemptions, any public utility other than a common carrier by railroad, from selling, leasing, assigning, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of or encumbering the whole or any part of specified property necessary or useful in the performance of the public utility's duties to the public, without first having either secured an order from the commission authorizing it to do so for qualified transactions valued above $5,000,000, or for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less, having filed an advice letter and obtained a resolution from the commission authorizing it to do so. Existing law requires the commission to determine the types of transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less that qualify for advice letter handling. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that transactions with monetary values that materially impact a public utility's rate base, or transactions that would trigger the commission's review responsibilities under the California Environmental Quality Act, should not qualify for expedited advice letter review. This bill would delete the requirement, for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less, that the commission approve the advice letter by resolution. The bill would authorize the executive director of the commission or the director of the division of the commission having regulatory jurisdiction over the utility to approve the advice letter for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less for which an advice letter is filed that is uncontested. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that transactions with monetary values that materially impact a public utility's rate base, or transactions that would trigger the commission's review responsibilities as lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, should not qualify for expedited advice letter review. The bill would authorize the filing of an advice letter for transactions by the public utility if the lead agency has completed the appropriate review under the California Environmental Quality Act for the transaction, and the commission is the responsible agency under the act and approves the advice letter by resolution voted upon by the commission.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 370, Statutes of 2009.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and to the Governor at 5:15 p.m.

  4. In Assembly. To enrollment.

  5. Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1925.)

  6. Ordered to Special Consent Calendar.

  7. Read second time. To third reading.

  8. From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

  9. From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (July 7).

  10. In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

  11. In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

  12. In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  13. Referred to Com. on E., U., & C.

  14. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  15. Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 1469.)

  16. Read second time. To Consent Calendar.

  17. From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (May 6).

  18. From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Re-referred. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 27).

  19. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

  20. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.

  21. From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. Re-referred. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (April 13).

  22. Re-referred to Com. on U. & C.

  23. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on U. & C. Read second time and amended.

  24. Referred to Coms. on U. & C. and NAT. RES.

  25. From printer. May be heard in committee March 30.

  26. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Skinner · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

  • Skinner

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Passed 40 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 37001
Democratic 2000
Republican 1000
Total 40001
% of votes cast 98%0%0%2%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Yee — Yea
Cedillo — Yea
Florez — Yea
Hancock — Yea
Cogdill — Yea
Corbett — Yea
Correa — Yea
Harman — Yea
Huff — Yea
Leno — Yea
Liu — Yea
McLeod — Yea
Oropeza — Yea
Lowenthal — Yea
Negrete — Yea
Runner — Yea
Alquist — Yea
Benoit — Yea
Ducheny — Yea
Dutton — Yea
Romero — Yea
Simitian — Yea
Steinberg — Yea
Walters — Yea
Wolk — Yea
Wright — Yea
Pavley — Not Voting
Aanestad — Yea
Ashburn — Yea
Hollingsworth — Yea
Kehoe — Yea
Maldonado — Yea
Price — Yea
Wiggins — Yea
Wyland — Yea
Cox — Yea
DeSaulnier — Yea
Denham — Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Padilla, Stephen C. Democratic Yea
Strickland, Tony Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Passed 11 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 2000
Unaffiliated 8000
Republican 1000
Total 11000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
Lowenthal — Yea
Corbett — Yea
Wright — Yea
Benoit — Yea
Kehoe — Yea
Simitian — Yea
Wiggins — Yea
Cox — Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Padilla, Stephen C. Democratic Yea
Strickland, Tony Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Passed 85 Yea · 0 Nay · 7 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 77007
Democratic 5000
Republican 3000
Total 85007
% of votes cast 92%0%0%8%
How each member voted (92)
Member Party Vote
Carter — Yea
Chesbro — Yea
Conway — Yea
Bill — Yea
Berryhill — Yea
Tom — Yea
Berryhill — Yea
Eng — Yea
Evans — Yea
Fuller — Yea
Furutani — Yea
Charles — Yea
Gilmore — Yea
Hagman — Yea
Hall — Yea
Hayashi — Yea
Hernandez — Yea
Huber — Yea
De — Yea
La — Yea
Torre — Yea
De — Yea
Leon — Yea
Huffman — Yea
Knight — Yea
Fletcher — Yea
Bonnie — Yea
V. — Yea
Manuel — Yea
Perez — Yea
John — Yea
Beall — Yea
Blakeslee — Yea
Cook — Yea
Coto — Yea
Davis — Yea
Duvall — Yea
Krekorian — Yea
Logue — Yea
Mendoza — Yea
Miller — Yea
Nava — Yea
Nestande — Yea
Perez — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Salas — Yea
Audra — Yea
Yamada — Yea
Gaines — Not Voting
Saldana — Not Voting
Fuentes — Not Voting
Garrick — Not Voting
Bass — Not Voting
Price — Yea
Ruskin — Yea
Silva — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Smyth — Not Voting
Swanson — Yea
Torres — Yea
Torrico — Yea
Tran — Yea
Villines — Yea
Adams — Yea
Ammiano — Not Voting
Anderson — Yea
Block — Yea
Blumenfield — Yea
Brownley — Yea
Buchanan — Yea
Harkey — Yea
Hill — Yea
Jeffries — Yea
Lieu — Yea
Ma — Yea
Monning — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Solorio — Yea
Torlakson — Yea
A. — Yea
Emmerson — Yea
Feuer — Yea
DeVore — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Lowenthal, Josh Democratic Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea
Niello, Roger W. Republican Yea
Strickland, Tony Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Passed 21 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 19000
Democratic 1000
Republican 1000
Total 21000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Hall — Yea
Charles — Yea
De — Yea
Leon — Yea
Miller — Yea
John — Yea
A. — Yea
Perez — Yea
Audra — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Duvall — Yea
Solorio — Yea
Ammiano — Yea
Harkey — Yea
Price — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Torlakson — Yea
Davis — Yea
Fuentes — Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Strickland, Tony Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Passed 13 Yea · 0 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 12003
Democratic 1000
Total 13003
% of votes cast 81%0%0%19%
How each member voted (16)
Member Party Vote
Fuller — Yea
Tom — Not Voting
Berryhill — Not Voting
Carter — Yea
Furutani — Yea
Huffman — Yea
Krekorian — Yea
Blakeslee — Yea
Duvall — Yea
Smyth — Yea
Swanson — Yea
Torrico — Yea
Buchanan — Yea
Skinner — Not Voting
Fuentes — Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 698 do?
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. The existing Public Utilities Act prohibits, with certain exemptions, any public utility other than a common carrier by railroad, from selling, leasing, assigning, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of or encumbering the whole or any part of specified property necessary or useful in the performance of the public utility's duties to the public, without first having either secured an order from the commission authorizing it to do so for qualified transactions valued above $5,000,000, or for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less, having filed an advice letter and obtained a resolution from the commission authorizing it to do so. Existing law requires the commission to determine the types of transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less that qualify for advice letter handling. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that transactions with monetary values that materially impact a public utility's rate base, or transactions that would trigger the commission's review responsibilities under the California Environmental Quality Act, should not qualify for expedited advice letter review. This bill would delete the requirement, for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less, that the commission approve the advice letter by resolution. The bill would authorize the executive director of the commission or the director of the division of the commission having regulatory jurisdiction over the utility to approve the advice letter for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less for which an advice letter is filed that is uncontested. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that transactions with monetary values that materially impact a public utility's rate base, or transactions that would trigger the commission's review responsibilities as lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, should not qualify for expedited advice letter review. The bill would authorize the filing of an advice letter for transactions by the public utility if the lead agency has completed the appropriate review under the California Environmental Quality Act for the transaction, and the commission is the responsible agency under the act and approves the advice letter by resolution voted upon by the commission.
Who sponsors AB 698?
AB 698 is sponsored by Skinner.
What is the current status of AB 698?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 26, 2009. Enacted.
Where can I track AB 698?
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