AB 51, which recently passed the Senate Transportation Committee 11 to 0, has passed the full Senate, 38 to 0.
The full vote happened yesterday, August 1st, 2016. The bill now goes back to the California State Assembly where it originated, for concurrence—meaning that the house of origin must approve changes made to a bill while it was in the second House (from the California Legislature glossary). Remember, AB 51 has been amended since it was introduced last year, but heavy involvement from all involved parties along the way makes it likely that the bill will be approved, and if not, it’s eligible for a two-house conference committee composed of six legislators, three from each house. If required, the committee meets (in public session) to reconcile differences between the Assembly and Senate versions of the bill.
We here at LaneSplittingIsLegal.com (and CityBike Magazine) have been strong supporters of AB 51 since last year, and I’d be surprised if AB 51 required a conference committee. So assuming it achieves concurrence, the next step is a signature from the Governor. Stay tuned here or to the LaneSplittingIsLegal Facebook page for updates.
