BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2489
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2489 (Hall) - As Amended: March 27, 2012
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:14-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill increases, from $25 to $250, the fine for displaying
on a vehicle a license plate altered from its original markings.
The bill newly defines "altered" to mean defacing the license
plate in any manner designed to avoid visual or electronic
capture of the license plate or its characters.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor state revenue increase, to the extent violations are
issued by state law enforcement. (General Fund.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The co-sponsors (Association for Los Angeles
Deputy Sheriffs and the Los Angeles Professional Peace
Officer's Association) report that individuals seeking to
avoid detection have responded to law enforcement deployment
of automatic license plate recognition cameras by altering
license plates by, for example, painting over or erasing the
plates reflective coating. They contend a tenfold increase in
the fine for altering plates will deter its occurrence and
bring the fine more closely in line with fines for similar
offenses.
2)Alteration-Not Just About Avoiding Capture. Current law
prohibits display of an altered license plate but does not
provide a definition of "altered." This bill says essentially
the same thing, but provides a definition of altered, to mean
"defacing the license plate in any manner designed to avoid
visual or electronic capture of the license plate or its
AB 2489
Page 2
characters." Under this definition, it seems allowable,
contrary to current law, to display a license plate altered in
a way not designed to avoid visual or electronic capture.
This definition of altered raises some interesting questions.
Would, for example, it be lawful to place character decals,
such as Calvin and Hobbs, on a license plate if doing so
seemed not designed to avoid visual or electronic capture?
The author has agreed to amendments that achieve the author's
goals while maintaining current law prohibitions, so that
Section 4464 of the Penal Code would read:
a) A person shall not display upon a vehicle a license
plate that is defaced or altered from its original
markings.
b) As used in this section, the following definitions
apply:
i. "Altered" means defacing the license plate in any
manner designed to avoid visual or electronic capture of
the license plate or its characters.
ii. "Defaced" includes, but is not limited to, painting
over or erasing the reflective coating of a license
plate.
a) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable
by a fine of not more than two hundred and fifty dollars
($250), pursuant to Section 19.8 of the Penal Code.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081