LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 709, as amended, Hill Lieu .
Charter-party carriers of passengers: driver background checks.
The Transportation Security Administration of the United States
Department of Transportation, administered by the Under Secretary of
Transportation for Security, is responsible for carrying out measures
to ensure aviation security, including hiring, training, and
retention of personnel for the security screening of passengers and
baggage and conducting background checks for individuals with access
to secure areas of airports regularly serving an air carrier holding
a certificate issued by the Secretary of Transportation. Individuals
with specified criminal backgrounds or other factors as determined by
the under secretary, are disqualified from employment with an air
carrier or airport operator, where they will have access to secured
areas. The under secretary is required to adopt measures to improve
secured-area access control, including working with airport operators
to strengthen access control points in secured areas, including air
traffic control operations areas, maintenance areas, crew lounges,
baggage handling areas, concessions, and catering delivery areas.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities
Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities, and
authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the
California Constitution, to confer additional authority and
jurisdiction upon the commission, that is cognate and germane to the
regulation of public utilities. Charter-party carriers of passengers
are subject to the jurisdiction and control of the commission under
the Passenger Charter-Party Carriers' Act. The act requires a
charter-party carrier of passengers to obtain from the commission a
certificate that public convenience and necessity require the
operation or a permit issued by the commission, and to operate within
the state on a prearranged basis, as defined. The act prohibits the
commission from issuing or renewing a permit unless the applicant has
met specified requirements, including the submission of specified
filing fees. Existing law prohibits the governing body of any airport
from imposing any vehicle safety, licensing, or insurance
requirements on charter-party carriers operating limousines that are
more burdensome than those imposed by the commission, but authorizes
the governing board to require a charter-party carrier operating
limousines to obtain an airport permit for operating authority at the
airport, and to adopt and enforce reasonable and nondiscriminatory
local airport rules, regulations, and ordinances pertaining to
access, use of streets and roads, parking, traffic control, passenger
transfers, trip fees, and occupancy, and the use of buildings and
facilities, that are applicable to charter-party carriers operating
limousines on airport property.
This bill would require the commission to adopt rules for criminal
history background checks of drivers, or applicants to be a driver,
for a charter-party carrier of passengers that provides passenger
transportation to and from any airport regularly serving an air
carrier holding a certificate issued by the United States Secretary
of Transportation (commercial airport) and would disqualify persons
convicted of specified crimes from being drivers. The bill
would require the commission to develop and make available to
charter-party carriers of passengers a list of qualified vendors
approved to investigate and certify the background of employees and
candidates for employment as drivers. The bill would
require that the rules adopted by the commission do the following:
(1) require that each driver, and each applicant who is offered
employment as a driver, of a charter-party carrier providing
passenger transportation to and from a commercial airport submit
fingerprints and other pertinent information to the approved
vendor, (2) require the vendor to transmit the fingerprints to the
Department of Justice, (3) require the Department of Justice to
conduct the check, and forward a request for federal level criminal
offender record information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
(4) require the Department of Justice to provide specified
information to the vendor, (5) require the vendor to review all
information received from the Department of Justice and forward that
information to the charter-party carrier of passengers, (6)
for the purpose of obtaining criminal history information, (2)
require that a charter-party carrier of passengers only employ
as drivers those individuals that have successfully completed the
criminal history background investigation, (7)
(3) require the charter-party carrier of passengers
provide an identification credential to each employee, or applicant
that becomes an employee, that successfully completes the criminal
background investigation process, and (8) (4)
require all drivers that are employed by a charter-party
carrier of passengers to carry identification credentials at all
times on airport property. The bill would require any applicant for
certification or a permit to operate as a charter-party carrier of
passengers to certify that its drivers have successfully completed a
criminal history background check and have been issued an
identification credential in accordance with the above-described
requirements. The bill would prohibit the governing body of any
airport from imposing requirements on charter-party carriers
providing transportation to and from the airport regarding criminal
background checks on drivers, but would authorize the governing body
to request a list of all drivers to whom identification credentials
have been issued.
Under existing law, a violation of the Passenger Charter-Party
Carriers' Act or an order or direction of the commission pursuant to
the act is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill are within the act and require
action by the commission to implement its requirements, a violation
of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by
creating a new crime.
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.

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Comments/questions on AB 709 (Lieu and Swanson): Charter-party carriers of passengers: driver background checks.