A new California state law for 2014 nullifies any city ordinance that had allowed the practice.

Until this last July, meter readers in Los Angeles ticketed people who parked at broken meters.

Democrat Assemblyman Mike Gatto argued the practice should be illegal.

"There were a number of cities across California that were considering policies like this that would have undone almost 90 years of parking meter law," Gatto said. "Since the dawn of parking meter, it was just an accepted fact that if the meter was broken and if the city had failed to fix it, that you could park there for free."



At a parking kiosk in Sacramento, Dave Whitin considered the concept of paying twice for something that doesn't work.

"I pay for taxes that supposedly maintain things and then when things get broken down, I pay a second time," Whitin said. "What kind of sense is that?"

The Los Angeles City Council repealed its parking ordinance after Gatto's bill passed. The council however urged Governor Jerry Brown to veto the measure.

The governor signed the law, but it is not permanent. It expires in 2017 unless the legislature extends it.

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