BILL NUMBER: AB 1908 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Cook and Carter
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
An act to amend Sections 5156 and 5157 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1908, as introduced, Cook. Vehicles: specialized license
plates: Armed Forces.
Under existing law, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issues
environmental and other specialized license plates. The issuance of
some of those license plates is subject to additional fees. Existing
law prohibits the DMV from establishing a specialized license plate
program for a state agency until the DMV has received not less than
7,500 applications for the plates, except the Department of Veterans
Affairs is authorized to sponsor a Gold Star Family specialized
license plate program in the absence of 7,500 applications if
specified conditions are met.
Existing law requires money the Veterans Service Office Fund to be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department
of Veterans Affairs for allocation and disbursement to counties for
the operation of county veterans service offices.
This bill would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to
sponsor a specialized license plate program to support past and
present members of the Armed Forces of the United States, and would
waive the 7,500 minimum application requirement. The bill would
authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to actively request and
receive donations for the Armed Forces Account which the bill would
create in the Specialized License Plate Fund. The bill would require
money in the account to be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for the necessary administrative costs of establishing
the specialized license plate program to support past and present
members of the Armed Forces of the United States.
The bill would require the DMV to deposit the additional revenue
from the specialized license plate program to support past and
present members of the Armed Forces of the United States in the
Veterans Service Office Fund, after deducting the DMV's
administrative costs.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5156 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
5156. (a) (1) A state agency may apply to the department to
sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the department shall
issue specialized license plates for that program, if the agency
complies with all of the requirements of this article.
(2) The department shall not issue specialized license plates to a
state agency for a vehicle that is exempt from the payment of
registration fees pursuant to Section 9101 or 9103.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision
subdivisions (d) and (e) , the department shall not
establish a specialized license plate program for an agency until the
department has received not less than 7,500 applications for that
agency's specialized license plates. The agency shall collect and
hold applications for the plates. Once the agency has received at
least 7,500 applications, it shall submit the applications, along
with the necessary fees, to the department. The department shall not
issue a specialized license plate until the agency has received and
submitted to the department not less than 7,500 applications for that
particular specialized license plate within the time period
prescribed in this section. Advance payment to the department by the
agency representing the department's estimated or actual
administrative costs associated with the issuance of a particular
specialized license plate shall not constitute compliance with this
requirement. The agency shall have 12 months, following the date of
approval of the agency's initial application to sponsor a specialized
license plate program, to receive the required number of
applications. If, after that 12 months, 7,500 applications have not
been received, the agency shall immediately do either of the
following:
(1) Refund to all applicants all fees or deposits that have been
collected.
(2) Contact the department to indicate the agency's intent to
undertake collection of additional applications and fees or deposits
for an additional period, not to exceed 12 months, in order to obtain
the minimum 7,500 applications. If the agency elects to exercise the
option under this subparagraph, it shall contact each applicant who
has submitted an application with the appropriate fees or deposits to
determine if the applicant wishes a refund of fees or deposits or
requests the continuance of the holding of the application and fees
or deposits until that time that the agency has received 7,500
applications. The agency shall refund the fees or deposits to an
applicant so requesting. The agency shall not collect and hold
applications for a period exceeding 24 months following the date of
approval of the agency's initial application to sponsor a specialized
license plate program.
(c) (1) If the number of outstanding and valid specialized license
plates in a particular program, except as provided in
subdivision subdivisions (d) and (e) ,
provided for in this article is less than 7,500, the department
shall notify the sponsoring agency of that fact and shall inform the
agency that if that number is less than 7,500 one year from the date
of that notification, the department will no longer issue or replace
those specialized license plates.
(2) Those particular specialized license plates that were issued
prior to the discontinuation provided by paragraph (1) may continue
to be used and attached to the vehicle for which they were issued and
may be renewed, retained, or transferred pursuant to this code.
(d) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs may sponsor a Gold Star
Family specialized license plate program and the department may
establish this specialized license plate program in the absence of
7,500 paid applications as provided in subdivision (d) of Section
5157.
(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs shall, upon receiving proof
of eligibility from an applicant, authorize the department to issue
Gold Star Family specialized license plates for a vehicle owned by an
eligible family member of a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States who was killed in the line of duty while on active duty
during wartime service, or during an international terrorist attack
that has been recognized by the United States Secretary of Defense as
an attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to
the United States, or during military operations while serving
outside the United States, including commonwealths, territories, and
possessions of the United States, or as part of a peacekeeping force,
which includes personnel assigned to a force engaged in a
peacekeeping operation authorized by the United Nations Security
Council. An eligible family member is defined as all of the
following:
(A) A person who is otherwise eligible under this article to
register a motor vehicle.
(B) A person who shows proof from the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense that the member who was
in the Armed Forces of the United States was killed in the line of
duty while on active duty in the military.
(C) A person who bears, and shows proof satisfactory to the
Department of Veterans Affairs of, one of the following relationships
to the member of the Armed Forces killed in the line of duty while
serving on active duty:
(i) Widow.
(ii) Widower.
(iii) Biological parent.
(iv) Adoptive parent.
(v) Stepparent.
(vi) Foster parent in loco parentis.
(vii) Biological child.
(viii) Adoptive child.
(ix) Stepchild.
(x) Sibling.
(xi) Half-sibling.
(xii) Grandparent.
(xiii) Grandchild.
(3) Upon the death of a person issued a Gold Star Family
specialized license plate, the license plate shall be transferred to
the surviving spouse, if he or she requests, or shall be returned to
the department within 60 days after the death of the plateholder or
upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs
first.
(e) The Department of Veterans Affairs may sponsor a specialized
license plate program to support past and present members of the
Armed Forces of the United States, and the department may establish
this specialized license plate program in the absence of 7,500 paid
applications as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 5157.
SEC. 2. Section 5157 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
5157. (a) In addition to the regular fees for an original
registration or renewal of registration, the following additional
fees shall be paid for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the
specialized license plates:
(1) For the original issuance of the plates, fifty dollars ($50).
(2) For a renewal of registration with the plates, forty dollars
($40).
(3) For transfer of the plates to another vehicle, fifteen dollars
($15).
(4) For each substitute replacement plate, thirty-five dollars
($35).
(5) In addition, for the issuance of environmental license plates,
as defined in Section 5103, with a specialized license plate design,
the additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108. The
additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108 shall be
deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund.
(b) The Gold Star Family specialized license plate program as
provided in subdivision (d) of Section 5156 shall not be subject to
the fees specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (5) of subdivision (a)
and shall only be issued in a sequential series.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (5)
of subdivision (a) and paragraph (2) , and after deducting
its administrative costs under this section, the department shall
deposit the additional revenue derived from the issuance, renewal,
transfer, and substitution of the specialized license plates in the
Specialized License Plate Fund, which is hereby established in the
State Treasury. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys in
that fund shall be allocated to each sponsoring agency, in proportion
to the amount in the fund that is attributable to the agency's
specialized license plate program. Except as authorized under Section
5159, the sponsoring agency shall expend all funds received under
this section exclusively for projects and programs that promote the
state agency's official policy, mission, or work.
(2) After deducting its administrative costs under this section,
the department shall deposit the additional revenue derived from the
issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of specialized license
plates from the specialized license plate program to support past and
present members of the Armed Forces of the United States,
established pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 5156, in the
Veterans Service Office Fund established pursuant to Section 972.2 of
the Military and Veterans Code.
(d) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs may actively request
and receive donations for the Gold Star Family License Plate Account
which is hereby created in the Specialized License Plate Fund and
which may consist of donations from public and private entities.
Earnings generated by the Gold Star Family License Plate Account
shall be retained by the account.
(2) Upon the determination of the department that there are
sufficient funds in the Gold Star Family License Plate Account for
this purpose, moneys in the Gold Star Family License Plate Account
shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the
department for the necessary administrative costs of establishing the
Gold Star Family specialized license plate program.
(e) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs may actively request
and receive donations for the Armed Forces Account which is hereby
created in the Specialized License Plate Fund and which may consist
of donations from public and private entities. Earnings generated on
the Armed Forces Account shall be retained by the account.
(2) Upon the determination of the department that there are
sufficient funds in the Armed Forces Account for this purpose, moneys
in the Armed Forces Account shall be available, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to the department for the necessary
administrative costs of establishing the specialized license plate
program to support past and present members of the Armed Forces of
the United States.