BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
AB 1656 - Goldberg Hearing Date:
June 26, 2001 A
As Amended: May 15, 2001 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law provides that any company using a motor vehicle to
transport household goods (i.e. moving companies) is subject to
regulation by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
Current law exempts self-storage companies that transport individual
storage containers to and from a self-storage facility from
regulation by the CPUC, under specified conditions.
This bill requires self-storage companies that transport individual
storage containers to and from a self-storage facility to register
with the CPUC.
BACKGROUND
Moving companies are subject to a CPUC regulatory program that
includes minimum insurance requirements, rate approval, and other
consumer protections.
The late 1990's saw a new type of moving operation based upon
self-storage companies. Those companies, primarily Public Storage,
Inc., provide a customer with a large, enclosed storage unit that is
brought to the customer's home. The customer packs and seals the
container, after which the self-storage company picks up the
container and brings it to the self-storage premises.
SB 1086 (Schiff), Chapter 45, Statutes of 1998, was sponsored by
Public Storage, Inc. and exempted this type of moving operation from
CPUC oversight if the company charged less than $100 for the
service, had a minimum level of insurance, provided the customer
with certain written disclosures, and provided other types of basic
consumer protections.
This bill requires those self-storage companies providing this
service to register with the CPUC.
COMMENTS
1)Just Tell Us Who & Where You Are . By requiring self-storage
companies that transport containers to register with the CPUC, the
author hopes to make it easier for the CPUC to take action against
these companies should customer complaints against them be filed
with the CPUC.
The bill doesn't require these companies to be permitted or
licensed, which would imply that the applicant must qualify for a
license by meeting certain minimum requirements before opening
their doors and which allows a regulatory agency to stop the
company from doing business by revoking that license. Instead,
the bill simply seeks to require these companies to register with
the CPUC.
2)Putting The Shoe On The Other Foot (Again) . In 1998, when Public
Storage, Inc. sponsored SB 1086 to exempt self-storage companies
from the CPUC registration and regulation requirements of the
Household Goods Carriers Act, there was no demonstrated "problem"
that was being solved other than the industry's desire not to be
regulated by the CPUC.
This bill seeks to turn back the clock somewhat by requiring those
same self-storage companies that have been exempt from regulation
for three-plus years to register with the CPUC even though there's
been no demonstrated "problem" since the exemption took effect in
May 1998. However, it should be noted that since these companies
aren't regulated or permitted from a central location, there is no
systematic way of recording consumer complaints that may have
arisen since the exemption was granted.
3)Effective Registration . If goal of requiring these companies to
register with the CPUC is to make it easier for consumers to have
any complaints against these companies resolved, then the author
and committee may wish to consider taking some additional steps.
The first would be to require the CPUC to accept and register
customer complaints and help to resolve those complaints.
The second would be to ensure that customers are informed by these
self-storage companies that they can go to the CPUC with
complaints. While the CPUC couldn't compel resolution of
complaints, the mere act of a regulatory agency picking up the
telephone and making a call can often be helpful.
The CPUC is the most obvious entity to register these companies
and receive complaints, since it has a Consumer Affairs Division
that currently accepts complaints, complete with an established
process for handling and tracking complaints. Furthermore, under
the Household Goods Carriers Act, the CPUC already regulates
moving companies.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (42-31)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (14-7)
Assembly Business and Professions Committee (7-3)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
Glassell Park
Oppose:
Public Storage, Inc.
Randy Chinn
AB 1656 Analysis
Hearing Date: June 26, 2001