BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 482
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 482 (Atkins) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
Policy Committee: Arts Vote:4-2
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill transfers the California Cultural and Historical
Endowment (CCHE) from the California State Library (CSL) to the
Natural Resources Agency, and creates a new grant program for
museums using revenues from a specialized license plate program.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes the Secretary of Natural Resources (currently an
endowment member) the chair of the CCHE, rather than the State
Librarian, who would remain a member of the endowment.
2)Authorizes the endowment to establish a competitive grant
program, as specified, to support small capital projects in
museums.
3)Provides the grant program shall initially be funded from any
remaining general obligation bonds appropriated for CCHE
administration from Proposition 40 (approved by voters in
2002), and thereafter the grant program shall be funded only
by revenues from a new specialized license plate program.
4)Requires the endowment, if it establishes the grant program,
to apply to the DMV by October 1, 2013 for a specialized
license plate program using the cartoon character Snoopy, the
use of whose image would be made available by licensing fee
from the California Association of Museums (CAM).
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potential one-time special fund costs of approximately
$400,000 to DMV to establish the Snoopy license plate program,
including computer programming changes and updating of forms.
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Pursuant to current law, DMV will make computer programming
and form changes only after program applications meet a
7,500-application threshold. Therefore, the DMV will incur
these costs only if it receives enough applications to require
the department to implement the program. The DMV will incur
minor ongoing costs to continue issuing specialty license
plates and renewals under the program. All of the DMV's
initial and ongoing costs will be covered by a portion of the
additional $50 fee paid for specialized license plates.
2)Minor costs to CCHE to submit the program application and
license prototype to DMV, design and print the license plate
application, and collect and hold applications and fees until
7,500 applications are received. It is expected the endowment
will receive assistance with these activities from nonprofit
organizations interested in this program. The endowment's
costs will eventually be recovered assuming sufficient
participation in the program.
3)Potential ongoing revenue to the endowment for museum grant
projects and program administration, depending on the number
of participants in the license plate program.
It is unclear what level of Proposition 40 bond funding will
be available for the new grant program. The Governor's 2013-14
includes $1.4 million to the CCHE from Prop. 40 funds for
additional projects under the bond program (see below). The
CCHE indicates, however, that allocating a small amount of
funds on a competitive basis will entail a time-consuming and
administratively costly process, at a time when the endowment
staff is significantly diminished. Since this funding level
was proposed for the budget, about $70,000 in additional bond
funds has been identified as available to the endowment.
COMMENTS
1)Background and Purpose . The CCHE was established in 2002 in
order to raise the profile and scope of California's historic
and cultural preservation program. The CCHE received
approximately $122 million from the California Clean Water,
Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act
of 2002 (Proposition 40) to distribute competitively for
acquisition, restoration, preservation, and interpretation of
historical and cultural resources. This program has funded
over 170 capital projects and planning grants in 48 different
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counties. With this one-time funding winding down, the
endowment is seeking an ongoing source of grant funding,
through a new specialized license plate program.
AB 482, sponsored by the California Association of Museums
(CAM), also transfers the CCHE to the Resources Agency.
According to the author, "From the beginning, the Resources
Agency played an important role in the implementation of the
CCHE program because of its expertise in dealing with grants
involving the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and
overseeing grant programs involving public access to historic
and cultural sites. Due to dwindling funding, the CCHE will
gradually reduce its staff over the next few years. Shifting
the CCHE to the Resources Agency will reduce CCHE's
administrative and facility costs plus costs that the State
Library has been absorbing in housing the agency."
2)Specialized License Plates . 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. Pursuant to AB 84 (Leslie)/ Chapter 91 of
2006, the DMV will issue specialized license plates when
sponsored by a state agency, the plate's message and resulting
revenues support that agency's program, and at least 7,500
paid license applications have been received. The
7,500-application threshold attempts to assure that DMV's
startup costs are fully covered, by the portion of the
registration fee surcharge directed to the department, and to
avoid a proliferation of different types of plates, which can
be troublesome from a law enforcement perspective.
CAM requested the CCHE serve as the state sponsor for a new
specialized license plate featuring the image of Snoopy. CCHE
would receive a share of the plate program revenue to
administer a competitive grant program for the benefit of
California museums. In May 2012, the CCHE board voted to
accept CAM's offer.
3)Related Legislation . AB 49 (Buchanan), also on today's
committee agenda, requires the Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS) to apply to the DMV to sponsor a breast cancer
awareness license plate program.
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AB 1096 (Nestande), pending in Assembly Transportation,
authorizes the Salton Sea Joint Powers Authority to apply to
the DMV for a specialized license plate.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081