While the state Assembly could not bring itself to repeal the controversial State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fee, on Monday the Assembly’s Natural Resource Committee held a hearing on Assembly Bill 468.
This bill, drafted by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D – Humboldt and Mendocino), replaces the $150 fee on SRA properties with a 4.8 percent surcharge on residential fire and multi-peril insurance or property exposure for commercial policies.
This proposal is similar to a bill, which former San Diego State Sen. Kehoe submitted in 2010.
The analysis of the bill describes the SRA fee as “inherently unfair, regressive and charged only to residents living in state responsibility areas, which include primarily rural residents as well as residents of some suburban areas.”
The funds collected through the new bill would be available to pay costs associated with any state disaster rather than limited to fires.
In 2010, Kehoe’s proposal was expected to garner more than $200 million annually.
