BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 49
Author: Buchanan (D), et al
Amended: 8/22/14 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 7/9/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lara
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Special interest license plates
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) to establish a special interest license plate that
promotes breast cancer awareness.
ANALYSIS : Any state agency, including DHCS, may sponsor a
special interest license plate pursuant to AB 84 (Leslie,
Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006). Under AB 84, DMV may issue new
special interest license plates only on behalf of state agencies
and only provided that for each state agency:
1.The license plate has "a design or contains a message that
publicizes or promotes a state agency, or the official policy,
mission, or work of a state agency." The design shall also be
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confined to the left of and below the numerical series (i.e.,
no full plate designs allowed).
2.The state agency submits 7,500 applications and accompanying
fees to DMV for the license plate. The state agency has 12
months to collect these applications and fees, but it can
extend that to a maximum of 24 months if it notifies and
offers to refund fees to those who applied during the first 12
months. Once a plate is issued, DMV stops issuing that plate
for the agency if the number of plates drops below 7,500.
In addition to the usual registration and license fees, DMV
charges the following additional fees for specialized license
plates: $50 for the initial issuance, $40 for annual renewal,
and $98 to personalize. DMV deducts its administrative costs
from the revenues generated. The net revenues derived from a
specialized license plate is then available upon appropriation
for the sponsoring state agency to expend exclusively on
projects and programs that promote the state agency's official
policy, mission, or work.
A sponsoring state agency may not spend more than 25% of its
license plate funds for administrative, marketing, and
promotional costs associated with the plate, and it must submit
an annual accounting report to DMV.
This bill:
1.Requires DHCS to apply to DMV pursuant to AB 84 to sponsor a
breast cancer awareness license plate program. DHCS may
accept artwork donated by California artists for use on the
license plate it sponsors.
2.Directs the revenues derived from this license plate, after
paying DMV's costs, to the Breast Cancer Control Account in
the Breast Cancer Fund. This account funds the "Every Woman
Counts" program to provide early breast cancer detection
services for uninsured and underinsured women.
3.Expresses legislative intent that DMV, in consultation with
DHCS, design and make available for issuance special breast
cancer awareness license plates. Specifically, that the
license plates shall consist of a pink breast cancer awareness
ribbon to the left of the numerical series and a breast cancer
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awareness message, such as "Early Detection Saves Lives,"
below the numerical series.
Background
History of special interest license plates . Historically, the
Vehicle Code required DMV to issue, upon legislative
authorization, a special interest license plate bearing a
distinctive design or decal of a sponsoring organization to any
vehicle owner that pays specified fees, provided that the
sponsoring organization met certain conditions. These
conditions included that the sponsor of a special interest
license plate had to collect 7,500 applications and fees for a
special license plate in order to pay DMV's costs of creating a
new plate, which are approximately $375,000 or 7,500
applications times the $50 fee.
In 2004, a federal court decision, Women's Resource Network v.
Gourley, E.D. Cal 2004, F.Supp.2d, 2004 U.S. Dist., invalidated
the provisions of the Vehicle Code. In the Gourley decision,
the court declared California's special interest license plate
statutes unconstitutional because they violated the First
Amendment right to freedom of speech. The court specifically
objected to the Legislature "picking and choosing" special
license plates that private organizations propose, in essence
promoting the message of some organizations while denying this
right to others. The court did allow the ten special interest
license plates existing at the time of its decision to remain in
use and available to new applicants, as they are today.
In response to the court decision, AB 84 (Leslie) established
the current specialized license plate program to 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. Newly created plates and the revenue
they generate must publicize or promote a state agency, or the
official policy, mission, or work of a state agency.
Comments
The author introduced this bill to compel DHCS to sponsor a
breast cancer awareness special interest license plate in order
to raise awareness of the importance of breast cancer screenings
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and to increase funding for the state's Every Woman Counts
program. Every Woman Counts is part of DHCS's Cancer Detection
and Treatment Branch and provides free clinical breast exams,
mammograms, pelvic exams, and Pap tests to California's
underserved women. The mission of the program is to save lives
by preventing and reducing the devastating effects of cancer for
Californians through education, early detection, diagnosis,
treatment, and integrated preventive services, with special
emphasis on the underserved.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/14)
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
California Medical Association
California School Employees Association
City of Danville
Inner Images Mobile Mammography Service
Junior Leagues of California
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/30/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Vacancy
JA:e 8/26/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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