Consumerism

Consumerism Legislation

Consumerism Legislation

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SB 95 (Corbett-D) California Car Buyers' Protection Act of 2009
Enacts the California Car Buyers Protection Act of 2009, which (1) imposes certain requirements when a dealer purchases or obtains a vehicle in trade in a retail sale or lease transaction and the vehicle is subject to a prior credit or lease balance, relating to the discharge of the credit or balance, (2) increases dealer's license and renewal fees to $175 and $125, respectively, and (3) increases auto broker's endorsement and renewal fees to $100 and $75, respectively.
Chapter 556, Statutes of 2009

SB 173 (Florez-D) Food safety: testing and recalls
Authorizes the State Public Health Officer to adopt regulations for the voluntary recall of food suspected of carrying an illness, infection, pathogen, contagion, toxin, or condition that, without intervention, could kill or seriously affect the health of humans.
Vetoed

SB 336 (Correa-D) Outdoor advertising: sports arenas
Allows certain types of sports arenas to advertise on an outdoor sign the food or beverages consumed on the premises of the arena, if those products were advertised prior to 7/1/08.
(In Senate Transportation and Housing Committee)

SB 340 (Yee-D) Advertising: business services
Requires any business making an "automatic renewal" or "continuous service" offer to clearly and conspicuously, as defined, disclose terms of the offer and obtain the consumer's affirmative consent to the offer.
Chapter 350, Statutes of 2009

SB 348* (Cogdill-R) Passenger vehicle rentals: advertising
Changes how car rental companies are permitted to impose vehicle license fee charges on customers. Specifically, defines "increased vehicle license recovery fee" as a charge that is designed to recover the amount of increased vehicle license fees actually paid by a rental company for the class of vehicle rented. Permits this fee to be unbundled and separately advertised, quoted, and charged.
Chapter 156, Statutes of 2009

SB 367* (Negrete McLeod-D) Consumer discounts
Makes clear that the Unruh Civil Rights Act does not impose liability when a business offers or confers a discount or other benefit to a consumer or prospective consumer because the consumer has suffered the loss or reduction of employment or reduction of wages.
Chapter 641, Statutes of 2009

SB 411 (Ducheny-D) Coupons
Requires a coupon issued by a member(s) of an association to include an Internet Web site address.
(In Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee)

SB 427 (Negrete McLeod-D) Automotive repair: crash parts
Requires an automotive repair dealer to include the phone number of the Bureau of Automotive Repair for consumers to contact for a free inspection if they suspect auto repair fraud or the unlawful pre-installation of auto body parts without consent, on a written estimate and repair final invoice.
(In Assembly Business and Professions Committee)

SB 437 (Pavley-D) Unlisted telephone numbers
Prohibits all telephone corporations, including cell phone companies, from charging customers for having an unlisted telephone number.
(In Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee)

SB 567 (Dutton-R) Outdoor advertising displays
Authorizes an advertising display adjacent to a section of a landscaped freeway by a city, county, or public education facility subject to specified conditions.
(In Senate Transportation and Housing Committee)

SB 690 (Leno-D) Outdoor advertising
Eases the circumstances under which a governmental entity may, without payment of just compensation, order the removal of signs that were not erected in conformance with laws and ordinances in effect at the time of their erection and signs that were in conformance but have subsequently been altered in violation of their building permit.
(In Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 722 (Steinberg-D) Sales of greenhouse gas credits
Establishes advertising and documentation requirements for sales of greenhouse gas credits or emission reductions and provides for civil penalties for violations of those requirements.
(On Assembly Inactive File)

SB 772 (Leno-D) Home furnishings: juvenile products
Exempts strollers, infant carriers, bassinets, and nursing pillows from fire retardant requirements and regulations unless the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation determines that a serious fire hazard exists, or if a product is regulated by federal law.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 797 (Pavley-D) Product safety: bisphenol A
Prohibits, beginning in 2011, the sale, manufacture or distribution of a bottle or cup or a liquid, food or beverage in a can, jar or plastic bottle that contains bisphenol A if the item is primarily intended for children three years of age or younger. Repeals this prohibition if the Department of Toxic Substances Control adopts a regulatory response, pursuant to current "Green Chemistry" law, regarding the use of bisphenol A.
(On Assembly Inactive File)

AB 19 (Ruskin-D) Product labeling: greenhouse gas emissions
Directs the Air Resources Board to develop a program for the voluntary labeling of consumer goods with information on the emissions of greenhouse gases associated with the product.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 63 (Mendoza-D) Service contracts: retailers
Requires a retailer selling a service contract to maintain the service contract information and make the contract available to the purchaser upon request, as specified.
Chapter 74, Statutes of 2009

AB 109 (Feuer-D) Outdoor advertising: digital advertising displays
Prohibits an advertising display that is visible from a state, county, or city highway, as specified, from being constructed as, or converted, enhanced, improved, modified, modernized, or altered, unless it complies with a municipalities (permitting authority) specified permitting process, as described in state law.
(In Assembly Governmental Organization Committee)

AB 350 (Lieu-D) Debt management and settlement
Enacts the Debt Settlement Service Act for the purpose of licensing debt settlement service providers.
(In Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 393 (Yamada-D) Vehicle warranties: disabled rights
Extends vehicle manufacturer warranty requirements to any vehicle manufacturer who modifies new vehicles into vehicles usable by persons with disabilities.
(In Assembly Business and Professions Committee)

AB 416 (Block-D) Developmental services: consumer abuse registry
Requires providers of services to consumers with developmental disabilities (DD consumers) to report evidence of DD consumer abuse to investigating agencies, requires investigating agencies to report substantiated cases of DD consumer abuse to the Department of Developmental Services, and requires the department to develop a registry of direct service workers with histories of substantiated reports of abuse.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 437 (Yamada-D) Mobile telephony service
Prohibits a mobile telephony service provider from directing a customer to a sales representative for the provider when the customer attempts to use the service to complete a telephone call to a person or business other than the provider.
(In Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee)

AB 448 (Torres-D) Consumer affairs: financial education
Requires the Department of Consumer Affairs to utilize existing resources to participate with the Financial Literacy and Education Commission to implement, in California, a financial literacy education campaign.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 496 (Davis-D) Tire age degradation: consumer disclosure
Enacts provisions requiring a tire retailer to disclose a tire's manufacture date upon sale, and requires a consumer to acknowledge receipt of such information by initialing and dating a statement to that effect.
(In Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee)

AB 519 (Duvall-R) Towing charges
Requires towing companies to provide consumers with a Towing Fees and Access Notice and an itemized invoice of all towing and storage fees. Specifies who is authorized to retrieve or inspect a towed vehicle and relieves the towing company of responsibility for determining the authenticity of documents provided to demonstrate a person's authority.
(On Senate Inactive File)

AB 792 (Duvall-R) Mail solicitations: disclosures
Revises last year's AB 2059 (Nunez-D), Chapter 738, Statutes of 2008, which required that companies provide additional disclosures when mailing solicitations that request a consumer to consent to receive marketing information by telephone. Permits a company to include a space on the solicitation for a consumer to provide his/her telephone number.
(In Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 811 (John Perez-D) Check cashing businesses
Prohibits a check casher from requiring a customer to use an identification card issued by the check casher. Prohibits a check casher from selling any form of identification other than a card for use only at that business. Provides that the penalties for making a false Department of Motor Vehicles-style identification card may include a jail term of up to one year.
Vetoed

AB 833 (John Perez-D) Rental passenger vehicles: contracts
Allows car rental companies to shift the burden of proof from the rental company to the renter to establish whether there is clear and convincing evidence that the renter or authorized driver failed to exercise ordinary care while in possession of the vehicle if the vehicle is stolen, making the renter responsible for the theft up to the fair market vale of the vehicle. Authorizes a car rental company to make the renter responsible for the replacement cost of the vehicle ignition key or remote keyless entry system if the renter fails to return them, as well as actual towing, storage, or impound costs incurred by the car rental company associated with the renter's failure to return the ignition key or remote keyless entry system.
(In Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 992 (Lieu-D) Advertising: property assessments
Recasts provisions relating to a property assessment appeal filing service to instead make them applicable to an assessment reduction filing service, as defined, and places additional restrictions on the activities of an assessment reduction filing service.
Chapter 496, Statutes of 2009

AB 1094 (Conway-R) Disposal of personal information
Revises existing law requirements regarding the destruction of customer records by providing that businesses must dispose of, rather than destroy, the records by shredding, erasing, or otherwise modifying the personal information so that it is unreadable or undecipherable. Provides that a cause of action shall not lie against a business that comes into possession of abandoned records containing personal information and that dispose of those records as provided above. Provides that it is the intent of the Legislature to create a safe harbor for a custodian of abandoned records who properly disposes of the records. Provides that a tenant shall be presumed to be the owner of records remaining on the premises after a tenancy or commercial tenancy has terminated if the property consists of records, as defined.
Chapter 134, Statutes of 2009

AB 1141 (Charles Calderon-D) Carryout bags
Requires operators of stores (defined as supermarkets and stores over 10,000 square feet that include a pharmacy) to establish and in-store plastic carryout bag recycling program.
(In Assembly Natural Resources Committee)

AB 1179 (Jones-D) Motor vehicle insurance: damage assessments
Modifies the required content of the Auto Body Repair Consumer Bill of Rights, which the Department of Insurance must then incorporate into future editions, to include information informing consumers that they have a right, including when pursuing an insurance claim for repair of that vehicle, to seek and obtain an independent repair estimate directly from a registered auto body repair shop.
Chapter 141, Statutes of 2009

AB 1370 (Solorio-D) Drugs and devices: labeling: expiration date
Requires that the label on drugs and devices contain a "best before" date in addition to the expiration date of the effectiveness of the drug or device.
(In Assembly Health Committee)

AB 1437 (Huffman-D) Shelled eggs: animal care standards
Prohibits shelled eggs from being sold for human consumption in California if the farm or location for production is not in compliance with California animal care standards beginning 1/1/15.
(In Senate Health Committee)

AB 1512 (Lieu-D) Food and drugs: sale
Prohibits a retailer from selling, or permitting to be sold, infant formula, baby food, and over-the-counter drugs beyond the expiration date indicated on the product's packaging, and imposes a $10 fine per item per day in violation.
Vetoed

AB 77XXX (Torlakson-D) Unclaimed property: gift certificates
Includes gift certificates within the unclaimed property law and requires the full value of a gift certificate issued commencing 7/1/06, or portion thereof, that has not been redeemed within three years after issuance of the gift certificate to escheat to the state and be forwarded to the State Controller. Provides that it does not alter the rights and responsibilities of the seller and buyer under the terms of the gift certificate and authorizes a seller to claim the value of a subsequently redeemed gift certificate as a credit against the seller's next payment to the State Controller.
(Died at Assembly Desk)

AJR 18 (Lieu-D) Credit card reform
Calls on the President and the Congress of the United States to work together in enacting credit card reforms to protect consumers from unfair credit card practices.
(In Assembly Banking and Finance Committee)

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