BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 610 (Solorio)
As Amended May 27, 2011
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 14-0 APPROPRIATIONS 13-4
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|Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Jeffries, Achadjian, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Buchanan, Eng, Furutani, | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Galgiani, Logue, Miller, | |Mitchell, Norby, Solorio |
| |Norby, Carter, Solorio | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Reduces, under certain conditions, the minimum number
of applications for the establishment of a specialized license
plate to 2,500, from the current 7,500. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a state agency to sponsor a specialized license plate in
the absence of 7,500 paid applications if the conditions
described below are met.
2)Prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) from
establishing a specialized license plate program for a state
agency until DMV has received at least 2,500 paid applications
for that agency's specialized license plates and sufficient
funds from donations to cover its startup costs for plate
manufacturing.
3)Specifies that advance payment to DMV of DMV's program costs by
the agency sponsoring the plate may not constitute compliance
with the 2,500 application requirement.
4)Allows the sponsoring agency to actively request and receive
donations for the specialized license plate program, which may
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consist of donations from public and private entities for
deposit into the Specialized License Plate Fund.
5)Requires earnings generated from donations to be retained for
the prospective specialized license plate program.
6)Allows funds to be appropriated to DMV by the Legislature for
the necessary administrative costs of establishing the
specialized license plate program, upon DMV's determination
that there are sufficient funds for the prospective specialized
license plate.
7)Grants the sponsoring agency 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.
8)Allows the agency to either refund the fees or collect paid
applications for an additional 12 months if it is unable to
meet the 2,500 application standard within the first 12 months.
If, after 24 months, the 2,500 application standard still has
not been met, all application fees must be refunded.
9)Discontinues the issuance of a specialized plate approved under
this process if its population falls below 2,500 for one year
but allows those plates that have already been issued to
continue to be used.
10)Requires, for full-plate graphic design plates, an additional
$50 fee for original issuance, a $40 fee for renewal, a $15 fee
for transfer, and a $35 fee for a substitute plate.
11)Requires the design of the plate to be consistent with the
criteria contained in existing law that applies to specialized
license plates.
12)Requires the revenues collected from the additional fees to be
allocated to the sponsoring agency for expenditure exclusively
for projects and programs that promote the agency's official
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policy, mission or work.
13)Requires DMV to provide the sponsoring agency an estimate of
its actual costs to initiate the license plate program.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows any state agency to apply to DMV to sponsor a
specialized license plate program.
2)Requires DMV to issue specialized license plates for that
program, if the agency complies with all statutory
requirements.
3)Prohibits DMV from establishing a specialized license plate
program for an agency until it has received not less than 7,500
paid applications for that agency's specialized license plates.
4)Requires the agency to collect and hold applications for the
plates. Once the agency has received at least 7,500
applications, it must submit the applications, along with the
necessary fees, to DMV.
5)Prohibits advance payment to DMV of its estimated or actual
administrative costs associated with the issuance of a
particular specialized license plate from constituting
compliance with the 7,500 application threshold requirement.
6)Requires funds accruing to a sponsoring state agency from the
sale of specialized license plates to be expended exclusively
for projects and programs that promote that agency's official
policy, mission or work.
7)Allows specialized license plates to feature a distinctive
design, decal, or distinctive message in a two-inch by
three-inch space to the left of the plate's numerical sequence
and a space not larger than 5/8 inch in height below the
numerical series.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
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1)According to DMV, one-time costs of approximately $400,000 to
make programming and programmatic changes.
2)Minor cost to DMV of less than $50,000 to monitor the amount of
funds available for each specialized license plate program,
track the number of outstanding and valid specialized plates
for each specialized license plate program, and notify the
sponsoring agency when that number drops below 2,500.
3)Annual revenue to DMV, upon appropriation, of an unknown amount
but likely equal to DMV's start up and ongoing costs to
administer specialized license plate programs.
4)Potential revenue, likely in excess of costs, to state agencies
that successfully establish specialized license plate programs.
COMMENTS : Prior to 2007, any new special interest license plate
required specific legislative authorization. This practice was
held to be unconstitutional in that the Legislature approved some
of the plates, and rejected others, using no standardized or
objective criteria for those decisions. Subsequently, as a
result of AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 91, Statutes of 2006, an
administrative process has been established wherein DMV will
issue specialized license plates when they are sponsored by a
state agency, the plate's message and the revenues it generates
support that agency's program, and at least 7,500 paid
applications have been received. The 7,500-application threshold
was previously put into statute for special interest license
plates and was arrived at in an attempt to assure that DMV's
startup costs would be fully covered by the portion of the
registration fee surcharge that is directed to the department and
to avoid a proliferation of different types of plates, which can
be troublesome from a law enforcement perspective.
The author of this bill asserts that the 7,500 application
requirement sets "a very high threshold for pre-orders." He
complains that this, in conjunction with another change enacted
in 2006 prohibiting full-plate graphics (also important to law
enforcement), has resulted in "no new plates (having) been
issued, even though numerous nonprofits have attempted to create
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new special-interest license plates." He goes on to point out
that "specialty license plates bring additional revenue to the
DMV, while providing a funding source for various nonprofit
charities."
This bill is supported by a number of animal welfare advocates
who are desirous of establishing a Pet Lover's Plate that can
raise funds to support spay and neuter programs. They feel the
7,500 application standard to be overly burdensome and see this
bill as a means of boosting the prospects of obtaining this new
plate. Conversely, of course, reducing that standard could
conceivably result in the proliferation that AB 84 (Leslie)
sought to avoid.
Legislative history: AB 1815 (Emmerson) of 2010, would have
allowed the establishment of a NASCAR plate, with the proceeds
benefitting the Bureau of Automotive Repair's vehicle repair and
retirement program. That bill passed the Assembly but died in
the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee without being
heard. AB 1242 (Achadjian) of 2011 would also establish a NASCAR
plate whose proceeds would benefit the Foundation for California
Community Colleges. AB 1242 (Achadjian) is a two-year bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0000977