BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1096
          Author:   Nestande (R), et al.
          Amended:  8/22/14 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  10-0, 6/26/14
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,  
            Lara, Liu, Roth, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Pavley

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 8/14/14
          AYES:  De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters, Gaines

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Special-interest license plates:  Salton Sea

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Department of Fish and  
          Wildlife to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to  
          establish a special-interest license plate that promotes Salton  
          Sea restoration.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 8/22/14 resolve chaptering conflicts  
          with AB 2450 (Logue).

           ANALYSIS  :    Any state agency, including the Department of  
          Health Care Services, may sponsor a special-interest license  
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          plate pursuant to AB 84 (Leslie, Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006).  
           Under AB 84, the DMV may issue new special-interest license  
          plates only on behalf of state agencies and only provided that  
          for each state agency:

           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  
            confined to the left of and below the numerical series (i.e.,  
            no full plate designs allowed).

           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 $15 to transfer to another vehicle.  DMV deducts its  
          administrative costs from the revenues generated.  The net  
          revenues derived from a specialized license plate are 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 the Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to DMV  
            pursuant to AB 84 to sponsor a Salton Sea license plate  
            program.  

          2.Directs the revenues derived from this license plate, after  
            paying DMV's costs, to the Salton Sea authority for  
            restoration of the Salton Sea.


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           Comments

          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 be a nonprofit organization and 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  
          these 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 10 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  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.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

           Estimated DFW costs of $25,000 in 2014-15 for plate design,  
            and approximately $50,000 in 2015-16 for 1/2 personnel year of  
            staff time to collect the initial 7,500 applications and fees  

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            for the establishment of the plate program (General Fund).   
            These costs could continue into 2016-17 if the requisite  
            applications and fees are not collected within the first year  
            and DFW applies to DMV for a 12-month extension.

           Assuming 7,500 pre-paid applications are collected by DFW, DMV  
            would incur initial administrative costs of $135,000 to  
            process the applications, and an additional $440,000 in  
            programming and other implementation costs, likely in 2016-17  
            or 2017-18, partially offset by pre-paid application fees of  
            $375,000, leaving a net first-year cost of approximately  
            $200,000 (Motor Vehicle Account).  These net costs would be  
            reimbursed in the following fiscal year by registration  
            renewal fees from holders of the Salton Sea plates.  All  
            ongoing costs thereafter would be fully offset by fees from  
            renewals and issuance of new plates.

           Upon full implementation of the proposed plate program, there  
            would be ongoing revenues of approximately $300,000 annually  
            available for use by the Salton Sea Authority for restoration  
            of the Salton Sea (based on 7,500 plate renewals).  These  
            revenues could be higher to the extent additional Salton Sea  
            plates are issued. 

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified 8/22/14)

          City of Indian Wells 
          City of Palm Springs
          Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
          Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau
          Indio Chamber of Commerce
          Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The author introduced this bill to  
          compel the Department of Fish and Wildlife to sponsor a  
          special-interest license plate in order to provide funds to  
          assist with restoration of the Salton Sea and to raise public  
          awareness for that effort.  There was a time when the Salton Sea  
          attracted more visitors per year than Yosemite National Park,  
          but the author asserts that decades of neglect have had a  
          negative impact on the wildlife and local residents.  By looking  
          at every viable solution to raise these crucial funds that are  
          needed - including a special-interest license plate - the author  
          believes that California can protect the residents of the  

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          Coachella Valley and its economic vitality, restore a vibrant  
          ecosystem that benefits countless species, and establish a new  
          recreational resource that will help draw new visitors to the  
          region to enjoy all that the desert has to offer.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/13
          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, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Yamada, Vacancy


          JA:nl  8/25/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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