Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Records, 2004-2014

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Title:
California State Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Records
Dates:
2004-2014
Creators:
State Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Records
Abstract:
The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee records consist of 33 cubic feet of textual and audiovisual records organized into the following record series: Bill Files covering legislative sessions between 2005-2014; Hearing Files from 2004-2014; Chronological Correspondence from 2005-2008; Committee Bill Logs from 2005, and Committee Administrative Files from 2009-2013. These records reflect the activity of the committee in overseeing legislation and other matters affecting transportation, housing, and community development issues.
Extent:
33 cubic feet, including compact discs and audiocassettes
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Senate Transportation Committee Records, LP426: [folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee records consist of 33 cubic feet of textual and audiovisual records organized into the following record series: Bill Files covering legislative sessions between 2005-2014; Hearing Files from 2004-2014; Chronological Correspondence from 2005-2008; Committee Bill Logs from 2005, and Committee Administrative Files from 2009-2013. These records reflect the activity of the committee in overseeing legislation and other matters affecting transportation, housing, and community development issues.

The bill files document the legislation directed to the committee. The files include committee analysis, letters from interested parties, and the comments of affected agencies. These files show the close involvement of the committee in such issues as the Federal “Real ID Act” HR 1286 (SB60, 2005-2006), seismic retrofitting (SB172, 2005-2006), the Military Personnel Privacy Protection Act of 2006, Donate Life (SB681, 2005-2006), abandoned vehicle abatement (SB1225, 2005-2006), renewable fuel regulations (SB1511, 2005-2006), special license plates (AB84, 2005-2006; SB788, 2013-2014), smog check reform, mobile home park conversion (SB900, 2007-2008; SB444, 2011-2012; SB510, 2013-2014), and the Swimming Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2006 (AB382, 2007-2008).

The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee considered bills that generated substantial community response. The committee played an important role in creating neighborhood electric vehicle plans in Northern California (SB956, 2007-2008), establishing a recycled material tracking system for Caltrans (SB735, 2007-2008), protecting workers by increasing the fines and penalties associated with double-fine zones (SB254, 2005-2006), regulating traffic violator schools (AB107, 2005-2006), protecting California consumers from purchasing flood damaged cars salvaged from post-Katrina Louisiana (AB 1854, 2005-2006), creating a toll exemption for first responders (AB254, 2009-2010), creating safety regulations for the testing of autonomous vehicles (SB1298, 2011-2012), creating a commercial vehicle ban on State Highway 2 over the San Gabriel Mountains (AB1361, 2009-2010) and renaming the western span of the “San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge” to the “Willie L. Brown, Jr. Bridge” (ACR65, 2013-2014). The bill files also reflect the committee’s close involvement with various interest groups and agencies including the California Chamber of Commerce, the League of California Cities, California Association of Realtors, Western Center on Law and Poverty, California Gray Panthers, Retail Industry Leaders Association, the Sierra Club, California Motor Car Dealers Association, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Commission (Metro), and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).

The committee conducted hearings, special hearings, and interim hearings on issues such as migratory fish passage, hot rod lifting, the Federal Real ID Act, the Governor’s budget, housing opportunity plans, earthquake safety, the California High-Speed Rail, transportation funding, transportation infrastructure, affordable housing, goods movement and shipping, the Governor’s Strategic Growth Plan, and the 2002-2013 closure and reconstruction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, as well as various legislative bills. These hearings, their agendas, committee notes, roll call votes, bill amendments, action reports and related information are included in the hearing files. The hearing files reflect the collaboration with other legislative committees, such as the Assembly Transportation Committee, Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee #2, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee #4, Senate Select Committee on School Facilities, Senate Committee on Local Government, Senate Agriculture Committee, and Senate Select Committee on High-Speed Rail. The hearing files also include hearing recordings on four audiocassettes from the Senate Transportation Committee dated March 24, 2004. Chronological Correspondence include general correspondence organized by year regarding job applications, hearings, meetings, correspondence to Governors Schwarzenegger and Brown urging their signatures on specific legislation, and letters to Congress. Committee Bill Logs include specific information on bills heard by the committee in 2005. Committee Administrative Files include specific information on the committee’s bill hearings from the legislative consultants’ administrative binders including agendas, roll calls, and amendments.

Together, these records reflect the committee’s attempt to balance the varied and sometimes conflicting demands of California’s citizens for responsible and affordable transportation and housing, safe and secure communities, public safety issues, and environmental protection.

Biographical / historical:

The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee is the most recent Senate committee to oversee legislation regarding the ownership and operation of transportation vessels, state transportation agencies and organizations, general transportation matters at both state and local levels and legislation regarding housing and community development in California.

The first committee to consider bills relating to transportation was the Senate Transportation Committee. Developed in 1949 by Senate Resolution 3, the Senate Transportation Committee was created to investigate "bills amending the a)Vehicle Code, b) Streets and Highway Code, c) Harbors and Navigation Code, and d) Uncodified legislation relating to the same subjects or to aviation." In 1975 the committee changed its scope to consider "bills relating to the operation, safety, equipment, transfer of ownership, licensing, and registration of vehicles, aircraft, and vessels," "bills relating to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles," and "bills relating to waterways, harbors, highways, public transportation systems, and airports."

The first committee that had housing matters under its purview was the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, created by Senate Resolution 11 in January 1983 to consider "bills related to housing, community development, codes and standards, fair housing, foreclosure, housing finances, manufactured housing, housing element, and the Subdivision Map Act." In 1995, Senate Resolution 8 changed the committee's name to the Senate Housing and Land Use Committee and its scope broadened to consider "bills relating to housing and land use." Finally, in December 1999 the Senate created the Senate Housing and Community Development Committee with Senate Resolution 4, which changed the scope of the committee to consider "bills relating to housing and community development."

In December 2004, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 4, which combined the Transportation and Housing committees to form the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee. The committee was created to investigate "bills relating to the operation, safety, equipment, transfer of ownership, licensing and registration of vehicles, aircraft and vessels," "bills relating to the Division of Highways and the Department of Motor Vehicles," "bills relating to waterways, harbors, highways, public transportation systems, and airports" and "bills relating to housing and community redevelopment."

The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee consisted of 14 members.

Acquisition information:
The California State Archives acquired the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Records according to state law.
Accruals:

Further accruals are expected.

Physical location:
California State Archives
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Sarah Starke
Date Prepared:
© 2018
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid created by Avery Campbell. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: January 2018

Access and use

Restrictions:

While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.

Terms of access:

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Senate Transportation Committee Records, LP426: [folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:
1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814, US
Contact:
(916) 653-2246
reference@sos.ca.gov
Website