BILL ANALYSIS
SB 88
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 14, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 88 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 7, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 47-28 (vote not relevant)
SUBJECT : Firefighter license plates
SUMMARY : Increases fees for the acquisition of California
Firefighter license plates and establishes new procedures for
their retention upon the death of the firefighter who held them.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative declarations and findings regarding the
California Firefighters Memorial Fund, the California Fire
Foundation and the license plates that honor California
firefighters.
2)Increases to $50 and $35 respectively, the additional fees
required for the original issuance and the renewal of a
California Firefighter license plate.
3)Requires the plates to be transferred to the surviving spouse
upon the death of the person to whom they were issued.
4)Allows, in the absence of a surviving spouse of a deceased
firefighter who held such a plate, or where the surviving
spouse dies while in possession such a plate, a member of the
deceased firefighter's family to retain one of the plates as a
family heirloom, upon submitting an affidavit to the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) agreeing not to attempt to
use the special license plate for vehicle registration
purposes.
5)Specifies that these plates are not valid for use for vehicle
registration purposes by a person other than the person issued
the special license plates and the surviving spouse of that
person.
6)Defines "family," for the purposes of these provisions, to
mean grandparents, stepgrandparents, parents, stepparents,
siblings, stepsiblings, stepchildren, natural-born children,
SB 88
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or adopted children of the person originally issued the
California Firefighter plates.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows firefighters and retired firefighters to apply for
license plates containing the words "California Firefighter"
upon their showing of satisfactory proof that they are
employed, or retired in good standing, as an officer, an
employee, or a member of a public fire department or fire
service.
2)Requires such applicants to pay, in addition to the regular
fees, a fee of $35 for an original registration, and $20 for a
registration renewal.
3)Requires, upon the death of a person issued California
Firefighter plates, the plates to be transferred to the
surviving spouse, upon that survivor's request within 60 days
of the death of the plate holder or upon expiration of the
registration, whichever occurs first.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The California Firefighter license plate is intended
to generate funds for the California Firefighter's Memorial
Fund, which provides critically needed assistance to the
California Fire Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organization. The Foundation provides emergency assistance and
support to families of fallen firefighters and is involved in an
array of victim assistance and public education programs.
The author of this bill points out that, "It has been over a
decade since the firefighter license plate program was first
launched. Since then, fees associated with the purchase or
renewal of the plates have not increased, while the demand in
services rendered by the California Fire Foundation has
increased dramatically." This bill therefore raises the fees
for initial issuance and renewal of these plates from $35 and
$20 respectively to $50 and $35 respectively.
Citing the length of a surviving spouse's grieving process, the
author further contends that the current 60-day period during
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which firefighter plates may be transferred from a deceased
plate holder to his or her spouse is inadequate. This bill
therefore eliminates that window so that a grieving spouse is
granted a reasonable amount of time to initiate the plate's
transfer. In the absence of a surviving spouse, or where the
surviving spouse dies while in possession of the special license
plates, the bill authorizes a member of the deceased
firefighter's family to retain one of the special license plates
as a family memento.
Related legislation : SB 1295 (Dutton) would grant similar
transfer privileges to the family members of deceased Army Medal
of Honor, Navy Medal of Honor, Air Force Medal of Honor, Army
Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, or
Purple Heart license plate holders. SB 1295 is scheduled to be
heard in this committee today.
Proposed author's amendment : At the suggestion of DMV, the
author proposes to delete the requirement (on page 4, line 40
and page 5, lines 1 and 2) that a deceased firefighter's family
family member wishing to retain a plate as a family heirloom
submit an affidavit agreeing not to use the plate for
registration purposes. DMV contends such submission is
unnecessary and would create a workload for them.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Professional Firefighters (sponsor)
Letters from 4 individuals
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093