Permissible Uses Of State-owned Motor Vehicles

Existing law authorizes the executive director of a state agency to assign a state-owned motor vehicle to an officer or employee of the state agency (officer or employee) for commuting. A state-owned motor vehicle may also be used by an officer or employee for traveling away from home in connection with his or her job responsibilities. Pursuant to federal internal revenue service regulations, the commuting use of a state-owned motor vehicle is taxable to an officer or employee while the use of a state-owned motor vehicle for traveling away from home is not taxable to an officer or employee.

Currently, a state-owned motor vehicle may be parked at an officer or employee's residence for more than one day per month only if the executive director of the state agency has assigned the vehicle to the officer or employee. The parking limitation does not distinguish between use of the state-owned motor vehicle for commuting and use of the vehicle for traveling away from home. This has caused confusion among state agencies regarding whether use of the vehicle is taxable to the officer or employee when a vehicle is parked at an officer or employee's residence for more than one night for the purpose of traveling away from home rather than for commuting.

The act clarifies the provision regarding the number of nights a state-owned motor vehicle may be parked at an officer or employee's personal residence and specifies that the limitation does not apply if the officer or employee is using the state-owned motor vehicle for the purpose of traveling away from home. In addition, the act clarifies that commuting does not include traveling away from home as defined by the federal internal revenue service and that an officer or employee shall not use a state-owned motor vehicle for commuting unless such use is authorized pursuant to law.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)