BILL NUMBER: AB 244 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
FEBRUARY 6, 2013
An act to amend Section 5069 5156 of
, and to add Section 5068.5 to, the Vehicle Code,
relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 244, as amended, Bonilla. Vehicles: license plates: veterans.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
to issue special license plates under a special interest
license plate program, as specified, and authorizes organizations,
including veterans' organizations, to participate in that program.
Existing law authorizes any person who is the registered owner or
lessee of a vehicle to apply for a special interest license plate
that has a distinctive design or decal that honors all veterans or
veterans who served in a particular war or armed conflict. Under
existing law, these special interest license plates are subject to
fees for issuance, renewal, or personalization that are additional to
those required for nonspecialized license plates. Existing law
requires that the revenue from those additional fees, less the
department's DMV's costs, be deposited
in the Veterans Service Office Fund, and further requires that money
in the Veterans Service Office Fund be available, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
allocation and disbursement to counties for the operation of county
veterans service offices.
Existing law also establishes a specialized license plate program
and requires the DMV to issue specialized license plates to a
sponsoring state agency that meets certain requirements. Existing law
requires that DMV charge specified additional fees for the issuance,
renewal, or transfer of specialized license plates, and requires
that these additional fees, less the DMV's administrative costs, be
deposited in the Specialized License Plate Fund for appropriation and
allocation to each sponsoring state agency, as specified.
This bill would additionally authorize a veterans'
organization to participate in a special interest license plate
program to provide special license plates to veterans of the United
States Armed Forces. The bill would prohibit an applicant from being
issued these special license plates unless he or she establishes, by
satisfactory proof, that he or she is a veteran, except as specified.
The bill would require that these special interest
require the Department of Veterans Affairs to apply to the DMV to
sponsor a veterans specialized license plate, and would require the
DMV to issue the veterans specialized license plates if the
Department of Veteran's Affairs meets the above-described
requirements. The bill would require that these license plates
be subject to the additional fees described above, and that the
revenue from those additional fees, less the department's costs, be
deposited in the Veterans Service Office Fund.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5156 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
5156. (a) (1) A state agency may apply to the department to
sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the department shall
issue specialized license plates for that program, if the agency
complies with all of the requirements of this article.
(2) The department shall not issue specialized license plates to a
state agency for a vehicle that is exempt from the payment of
registration fees pursuant to Section 9101 or 9103.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the department shall
not establish a specialized license plate program for an agency until
the department has received not less than 7,500 applications for
that agency's specialized license plates. The agency shall collect
and hold applications for the plates. Once the agency has received at
least 7,500 applications, it shall submit the applications, along
with the necessary fees, to the department. The department shall not
issue a specialized license plate until the agency has received and
submitted to the department not less than 7,500 applications for that
particular specialized license plate within the time period
prescribed in this section. Advance payment to the department by the
agency representing the department's estimated or actual
administrative costs associated with the issuance of a particular
specialized license plate shall not constitute compliance with this
requirement. The agency shall have 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. If, after that 12 months, 7,500 applications have not
been received, the agency shall immediately do either of the
following:
(1) Refund to all applicants all fees or deposits that have been
collected.
(2) Contact the department to indicate the agency's intent to
undertake collection of additional applications and fees or deposits
for an additional period, not to exceed 12 months, in order to obtain
the minimum 7,500 applications. If the agency elects to exercise the
option under this subparagraph, it shall contact each applicant who
has submitted an application with the appropriate fees or deposits to
determine if the applicant wishes a refund of fees or deposits or
requests the continuance of the holding of the application and fees
or deposits until that time that the agency has received 7,500
applications. The agency shall refund the fees or deposits to an
applicant so requesting. The agency shall not collect and hold
applications for a period exceeding 24 months following the date of
approval of the agency's initial application to sponsor a specialized
license plate program.
(c) (1) If the number of outstanding and valid specialized license
plates in a particular program, except as provided in subdivision
(d), provided for in this article is less than 7,500, the department
shall notify the sponsoring agency of that fact and shall inform the
agency that if that number is less than 7,500 one year from the date
of that notification, the department will no longer issue or replace
those specialized license plates.
(2) Those particular specialized license plates that were issued
prior to the discontinuation provided by paragraph (1) may continue
to be used and attached to the vehicle for which they were issued and
may be renewed, retained, or transferred pursuant to this code.
(d) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs may sponsor a Gold Star
Family specialized license plate program and the department may
establish this specialized license plate program in the absence of
7,500 paid applications as provided in subdivision (d) of Section
5157.
(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs shall, upon receiving proof
of eligibility from an applicant, authorize the department to issue
Gold Star Family specialized license plates for a vehicle owned by an
eligible family member of a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States who was killed in the line of duty while on active duty
during wartime service, or during an international terrorist attack
that has been recognized by the United States Secretary of Defense as
an attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to
the United States, or during military operations while serving
outside the United States, including commonwealths, territories, and
possessions of the United States, or as part of a peacekeeping force,
which includes personnel assigned to a force engaged in a
peacekeeping operation authorized by the United Nations Security
Council. An eligible family member is defined as all of the
following:
(A) A person who is otherwise eligible under this article to
register a motor vehicle.
(B) A person who shows proof from the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense that the member who was
in the Armed Forces of the United States was killed in the line of
duty while on active duty in the military.
(C) A person who bears, and shows proof satisfactory to the
Department of Veterans Affairs of, one of the following relationships
to the member of the Armed Forces killed in the line of duty while
serving on active duty:
(i) Widow.
(ii) Widower.
(iii) Biological parent.
(iv) Adoptive parent.
(v) Stepparent.
(vi) Foster parent in loco parentis.
(vii) Biological child.
(viii) Adoptive child.
(ix) Stepchild.
(x) Sibling.
(xi) Half-sibling.
(xii) Grandparent.
(xiii) Grandchild.
(3) Upon the death of a person issued a Gold Star Family
specialized license plate, the license plate shall be transferred to
the surviving spouse, if he or she requests, or shall be returned to
the department within 60 days after the death of the plateholder or
upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs
first.
(e) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs shall apply to the
department to sponsor a veterans specialized license plate program,
and the department shall issue license plates for that program if the
Department of Veterans Affairs meets the requirements prescribed by
this section.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 5155, the design of the veterans
specialized license plate shall be identical to the design of the
veterans special interest license plate issued pursuant to Section
5068 on or before January 1, 2010.
(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 5157, revenue
derived from the additional fees prescribed by Section 5157 for the
issuance, renewal, or transfer of the veterans specialized license
plates shall be deposited, after the department deducts its
administrative costs, in the Veterans Service Office Funds, created
by Section 972.2 of the Military and Veterans Code.
SECTION 1. Section 5068.5 is added to the
Vehicle Code, to read:
5068.5. (a) (1) A veterans' organization that meets the minimum
application requirement specified in subdivision (d) of Section 5060
by applying either individually or with other veterans' organizations
shall be issued a license plate bearing a distinctive design or
decal approved under subdivision (a) of Section 5060.
(2) Special interest license plates issued under this section may
be issued in a combination of numbers or letters, or both, requested
by the owner or lessee of the vehicle, to be displayed in addition to
the design or decal authorized under paragraph (1), subject to
Section 5105.
(b) (1) The special interest license plates described in this
section shall be issued only to veterans of the United States Armed
Forces. An applicant shall not be issued a special interest license
plate unless he or she establishes, by satisfactory proof, that he or
she is a veteran.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a veteran who was issued a
special license plate pursuant to Section 5068 on or before January
1, 2012, shall be issued a special license plate under this section
without providing proof of his or her veteran status.
(c) In addition to the regular fees for an original registration,
a renewal of registration, or a transfer of registration, the
following fees shall be paid by individuals applying for a special
interest license plate or a decal issued under this section:
(1) Fifty dollars ($50) for the initial issuance of the plates and
decals. The plates shall be permanent and shall not be required to
be replaced.
(2) Forty dollars ($40) for each renewal of registration that
includes the continued display of the plates or decals.
(3) Fifteen dollars ($15) for transfer of the plates to another
vehicle.
(4) Thirty-five dollars ($35) for replacement plates, if they
become damaged or unserviceable.
(5) Ten dollars ($10) for replacement decals, if they become
damaged or unserviceable.
(6) Seventy-eight dollars ($78) for the personalization of the
plates, as authorized under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
SEC. 2. Section 5069 of the Vehicle Code is
amended to read:
5069. Revenue derived from the additional special fees provided
in Sections 5068 and 5068.5, less costs incurred by the department
pursuant to this article, shall be deposited in the Veterans Service
Office Fund, created by Section 972.2 of the Military and Veterans
Code.