BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 49
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 49 (Buchanan) - As Amended: April 8, 2013
SUBJECT : Breast cancer awareness: specialty license plate
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) to apply to the California Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a breast cancer awareness,
full-plate graphic license plate. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires DHCS to apply to DMV to sponsor a breast cancer
awareness specialty license plate;
2)Requires DMV to issue the license plates provided that the
existing requirements of the specialty license plate
program are met, with an exception for a full-plate graphic
design;
3)Requires the breast cancer awareness license plates to bear
a full-plate graphic design that DMV determines, in
consultation with the Department of the California Highway
Patrol (CHP), does not obscure the readability of the
license plate;
4)Requires that the plate depict a pink background and the
pink breast cancer awareness ribbon, as approved by DHCS;
and,
5)Requires the revenue generated from the additional fees for
the specialty license plates be deposited, after DMV
deducts its administrative costs, in the Breast Cancer
Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund.
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.
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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.
8)Establishes the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast
Cancer Fund, and requires that funds in that account, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated for the
provision of early breast cancer detection services for
uninsured and underinsured women.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Prior to 2007, any new special interest license
plate required specific legislative authorization. That
practice was held to be unconstitutional by the federal
courts in that the Legislature approved some of the plates
and rejected others, while using no standardized or objective
criteria for those decisions. In response to the court
decision, AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006,
established the current specialized license plate program to
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provide a forum for government speech that promotes
California's state policies. AB 84 excludes private
organizations from seeking specialized license plates as a
forum for private speech, and thus addresses the court's
objection. Plates now created and the revenue they generate
must publicize or promote a state agency, or the official
policy, mission, or work of a state agency. Furthermore, the
process requires that at least 7,500 paid applications must
be received by the state agency prior to notifying DMV. 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 DMV and to avoid a proliferation of different
types of plates, which can be troublesome from a law
enforcement perspective.
Although this bill purports to comply with the administrative
processes for the adoption of specialty license plates as
administered by DMV, this bill would essentially establish a
parallel AB 84 process that includes a specific exception to
the prohibition of full-plate graphic design license plates.
Further, this bill would put the Legislature back in the
business of picking and choosing specific license plate
messages, promoting the message of some organizations while
denying this right to others, an activity the courts have
frowned upon.
In justifying the need for this bill, the author intends to
create a new pink breast cancer awareness license plate
basically utilizing the existing specialized license plate
program requirements established in law and administered by
DMV while, at the same time, requiring the plate to have a
full-plate graphic design upon the concurrent approval of DMV
and CHP.
Senate Resolution 43(Kopp) : The Senate Transportation
Committee approved a legislative resolution in 1994, SR 43,
which established a task force consisting of representatives
from DMV, CHP, and local governments, to examine the issue of
readability of the specialty license plates and the impact on
vehicle identification and safety. In response to the
resolution and contained within its report to the
Legislature, the task force made the following
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recommendations:
"The Department of Motor Vehicles should maintain the
current standard plate designs and configurations. There
should be no further authorization of additional special
interest license plates. The task force concluded,
however, that if the Legislature determined there is a
compelling need to approve additional special interest
plates, "it should rigorously adhere to the design criteria
(prescribed in Vehicle Code Sec. 5060, such as the license
plate shall be in a space not larger than 2 inches by 3
inches to the left of the numerical series and a space not
larger than five-eighths of an inch in height below the
numerical series for a distinctive design, decal, or
descriptive message to facilitate plate identification by
law enforcement," including not authorizing any license
plates with a full-plate graphic configuration."
Committee concern : This bill is troubling in that it would
insert the Legislature back into the process of picking and
choosing what messages are appropriate for public display on
vehicle license plates as proposed by private organizations.
Allowing this bill to move forward without substantive
changes will promote, in essence, the message of some
organizations while denying this right to others, in conflict
with the federal court ruling on this matter.
The author, however, indicates that the requirement to keep
the message within a 2 by 3 inch space on the license plate
is problematic, contending that this discourages the ability
of sponsors to meet the 7,500 person threshold requirement in
order for the specialized license plates to be manufactured.
The author believes that allowing a full-plate graphic
design, similar to that provided in legislation enacted last
year, SB 1018 (Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee),
Chapter 39, Statutes of 2012, will entice more people to
apply for the specialized license plate. (SB 1018 authorizes
DMV to issue new special interest license plates on behalf of
the State Department of Parks and Recreation with a
full-plate graphic design that will not obscure the
readability of the license plate, as jointly determined by
DMV and CHP. These provisions were enacted as part of the
budget package and were not considered in legislative policy
committees.)
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Should the committee wish to provide for the proposed
full-plate design, despite the stated concerns, then this
bill should be amended to delete any references to a specific
cancer awareness license plate and instead, authorize
full-plate designs as a part of the existing administrative
process and grant CHP and DMV approval authority over the
design. In this way, the bill will no longer run afoul of
First Amendment's concerns and issues related to readability
and enforcement can still be appropriately addressed.
Related bills : AB 244 (Bonilla) of 2013, would require proof
of veteran's status in order to apply for specialized
veterans' license plates. That bill is scheduled to be heard
by this committee next week.
AB 482 (Atkins) of 2013, would require the California
Cultural and Historical Endowment, if it creates a
competitive grant program in support of small capital
projects, to apply to DMV before October 1, 2013, for the
purpose of creating a specialized license plate program using
the cartoon character Snoopy. That bill was heard in the
Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet
Committee on April 9, 2013 (4-2 vote).
AB 853 (Brown and Linder) of 2013, would authorize CHP to
apply to DMV to sponsor a
program for a series of motorsports and auto-enthusiast
themed license plates. That bill is now a two-year bill at
the request of the author.
AB 1096 (Nestande) of 2013, would require DMV, in
consultation with the Salton Sea
Joint Powers Authority, to design and make available a Salton
Sea environmental special interest license plate bearing a
full-plate graphic design. That bill is to be heard in this
committee on April 22, 2013.
SB 789 (Price) of 2013, would authorize the California Arts
Council to use funds generated by specialized license plate
applications for administrative purposes that is currently
prohibited. That bill was set for hearing in the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee on April 16, 2013, but
was cancelled at the request of the author.
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AB 610 (Solorio) Chapter 9, Statutes of 2012, allows the
Veterinary Medical Board an additional 12 months to
accumulate the required 7,500 applications for the
establishment of a Pet Lover's specialized license plate.
AB 1242 (Achadjian) of 2012, would have authorized the
Foundation for California Community Colleges to apply to DMV
to sponsor specialized license plates for the National
Association for stock car Auto Racing (NASCAR). That bill
was not heard by this committee at the request of the author.
AB 1539 (Hayashi) of 2012, would have authorized an
anti-bullying license plate program in support of persons who
are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
community. That bill was not heard by this committee at the
request of the author.
SB 1018 (Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), Chapter
39, Statutes of 2012, among other provisions of the budget
trailer bill, authorizes DMV, in consultation with the
California Department of Parks and Recreation, to design and
make available for issuance special state parks environmental
license plates bearing a full-plate graphic design. That
bill was not heard in this committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Junior League State Public Affairs Committee
California Affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
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