BILL NUMBER: SB 88	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 11, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 4, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator DeSaulnier
    (   Principal  
coauthors:   Assembly Members  
Mendoza     and Torrico 
 ) 
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Miller   ) 

                        JANUARY 20, 2009

   An act to amend Section  53760 of, and to add Sections
8860, 8861, 8862, 8863, 8864, and 8865 to, the Government Code,
relating to local government.   5101.2 of the Vehicle
Code, relating to vehicles. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 88, as amended, DeSaulnier.  Local government:
bankruptcy.   Vehicles: firefighter's license plates.
 
    Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue,
upon the payment of an initial fee of $35 and a $20 fee for each
renewal of registration, special interest license plates to
firefighters who meet prescribed requirements. The revenue derived
from the payment of these special fees for firefighter's license
plates, less the department's costs, are required to be deposited in
the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund.  
   This bill would increase those fees to $50 for the initial
issuance of the special license plates and $35 for each renewal upon
reregistration of the vehicle.  
   Existing law also requires, upon the death of the person to whom
the special firefighter license plates were issued, that the plates
be transferred to the surviving spouse, if he or she requests it.
 
   This bill would instead require that the plates be automatically
transferred to the surviving spouse, and in the absence of a
surviving spouse or where the surviving spouse dies while in
possession of the special license plates, the bill would authorize a
member of the deceased firefighter's family, as defined, to retain
one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to
specified conditions and upon submission of an affidavit to the
department agreeing not to attempt to use the special license plate
for vehicle registration purposes.  
   Under existing law, any taxing agency or instrumentality of the
state may file a petition and prosecute to completion bankruptcy
proceedings permitted under the laws of the United States. 

   This bill would provide that a local public entity may only file
under federal bankruptcy law with the approval of the California Debt
and Investment Advisory Commission, or if the local public entity
has adopted a resolution to override the findings of the commission,
as specified. 
   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.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) The California Firefighters' Memorial Fund provides critically
needed assistance to the California Fire Foundation (Foundation), a
nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization charged with conducting
annual ceremonies and maintaining the upkeep of the California
Firefighters Memorial, which is located in Capitol Park and was
unveiled in 2002 to honor our state's firefighters who have made the
ultimate sacrifice in their call to duty.  
   (b) Etched in the memorial's limestone walls are the names of over
1,000 men and women who relentlessly put themselves in the face of
danger every day, protecting the people and property of the great
State of California.  
   (c) The Foundation is further charged with providing emergency
assistance and support to the families of fallen firefighters and is
involved in an array of victim assistance and public education
programs, including Firefighters on Your Side, a statewide program
educating every population and language group about fire safety.
 
   (d) When disaster strikes, firefighters are the first responders.
Because of their close contact with the communities in which they
serve, the Foundation works with local firefighters throughout the
state to identify unmet needs in their communities and help them
carry out programs to enhance services in their jurisdictions before,
during, and after the alarm bell rings.  
   (e) The California firefighter license plate program was designed
and created by California Professional Firefighters. Using an image
from the box office movie hit, "backdraft", the California
firefighter license plate has become a key trademark within the fire
service, enabling only active and retired firefighters to buy these
plates for display on their automobiles, trucks, trailers, and
motorcycles, where a portion of the proceeds become a source of
support for the families they may one day tragically leave behind.
 
   (f) Current law allows spouses of fallen firefighters to transfer
a firefighter license plate to their name upon the death of their
spouse, if they do so within 60 days of the firefighter's death.
 
   (g) Given that surviving spouse's grieving process can often take
months, if not years, it is only appropriate that the 60-day transfer
window be stricken so that a grieving spouse is granted a reasonable
amount of time to initiate the plate's transfer.  
   (h) Further, it has been over a decade since the firefighter
license plate program was first launched. Since then, the fee
specifically associated with the purchase or renewal of the
personalized firefighter plates has not increased, while the need for
services rendered by the California Fire Foundation has increased
dramatically. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 5101.2 of the   Vehicle
Code   is amended to read: 
   5101.2.  (a) A person otherwise eligible under this article who is
a firefighter or a retired firefighter may apply for special license
plates for a vehicle under this article. License plates issued
pursuant to this section shall be issued in accordance with Section
5060.
   (b) The applicant, by satisfactory proof, shall show all of the
following:
   (1) The applicant is, or has retired, in good standing as an
officer, an employee, or a member of a fire department or a fire
service of the state, a county, a city, a district, or any other
political subdivision of the state, whether in a volunteer, partly
paid, or fully paid status.
   (2) The applicant is, or was until retirement, regularly employed
as a firefighter or regularly enrolled as a volunteer firefighter.
   (3) The applicant's principal duties fall, or fell until
retirement, within the scope of active firefighting and any of the
following activities:
   (A) Fire prevention service.
   (B) Fire training.
   (C) Hazardous materials abatement.
   (D) Arson investigation.
   (E) Emergency medical services.
   (c) The special license plates issued under this section shall
contain the words "California Firefighter" and shall run in a regular
numerical series.
   (d) In addition to the regular fees for an original registration,
a renewal of registration, or a transfer of registration, the
following special license plate fees shall be paid:
   (1) A fee of  thirty-five   fifty 
dollars  ($35)   ($50)  for the initial
issuance of the special license plates. These special license plates
shall be permanent and shall not be required to be replaced.
   (2) A fee of  twenty   thirty-five 
dollars  ($20)   ($35)  for each renewal of
registration that includes the continued display of the special
license plates.
   (3) If the special license plates become damaged or unserviceable,
a fee of thirty-five dollars ($35) for the replacement of the
special license plates, obtained from the department upon proper
application therefor.
   (4) A fee of fifteen dollars ($15) for the transfer of the special
license plates to another vehicle qualifying as a vehicle owned by a
firefighter who has met the requirements set forth in subdivision
(b).
   (5) In addition, for the issuance of environmental license plates,
as defined in Section 5103, with the special firefighter personal
vehicle license plates and distinctive design or decal, the
additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108. The additional
fees collected pursuant to this paragraph shall be deposited in the
California Environmental License Plate Fund.
   (e) Upon the death of a person issued special license plates
pursuant to this section, the plates shall be transferred to the
surviving spouse  , if he or she requests, or  
. Upon the death of the surviving spouse, the plates  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.  However, in the absence of a surviving
spouse or where the surviving spouse dies while in possession of the
special license plates, a member of the deceased firefighter's family
may retain one of the special license plates as a family heirloom,
subject to the conditions set forth in subdivision (f),  
upon submitting an affidavit to the department agreeing not to
attempt to use the special license plate for vehicle registration
purposes.  
   (f) The special license plates issued under this section are not
valid for use for vehicle registration purposes by a person other
than the person issued the special license plates under subdivision
(a) and the surviving spouse of that person.  
   (g) For purposes of this section, "family" means grandparents,
stepgrandparents, parents, stepparents, siblings, stepsiblings,
stepchildren, natural-born children, or adopted children of the
person issued the special license plates under subdivision (a). 

   (f) 
    (h)   Except as provided in paragraph (5) of subdivision
(d), the revenues derived from the additional special fees provided
in this section, less costs incurred by the department pursuant to
this section, shall be deposited in the California Firefighters'
Memorial Fund established by Section 18802 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code. All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears
in the bill as amended in the Assembly, September 4, 2009. (JR11)
                                                           ____
CORRECTIONS  Text--Page 5.
                   ____