(1) Existing law establishes the membership of the Public Utilities Commission, and the qualifications and tenure of the members of the commission. Existing law requires the commission to report annually to the Legislature on the timeliness in resolving cases, including the days that commissioners presided in hearings.

This bill would additionally require the commission to report on the days that commissioners attended hearings. The bill would require, in reporting on commissioner attendance at hearings, that the report include attendance at all types of hearings, including by hearing type, proceeding type, and industry type, as provided.

(2) The Passenger Charter-party Carriers’ Act provides for the regulation of charter-party carriers of passengers by the commission and includes specific requirements for liability insurance coverage, background checks, and other regulatory matters applicable to transportation network companies (TNCs), which are certain organizations that, using an online-enabled application or platform, connect passengers with drivers using a personal vehicle. The act requires, until January 1, 2026, the commission, as part of its regulation of TNCs, to establish, in a new or existing proceeding, a program relating to accessibility for persons with disabilities. Among other program requirements, the act requires each TNC, by July 1, 2019, to pay on a quarterly basis to the commission an amount equivalent to, at a minimum, $0.05 for each TNC trip completed using the TNC’s online-enabled application or platform that originates in certain geographic areas except if a TNC satisfies certain requirements for a partial or complete exemption from those charges, as specified. The act requires those charges collected by the commission to be deposited into the TNC Access for All Fund, and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the commission for purposes of the program, including for distribution on a competitive basis to access providers that establish on-demand transportation programs or partnerships to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in the geographic areas included in the program.

This bill would extend the requirement for the commission to establish that program until January 1, 2032, including extending the $0.05 charge for each completed TNC trip. By extending the operation of the TNC Access for All Fund, which is a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.

(3) Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

(4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.