BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2450
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: logue
VERSION: 4/21/14
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 26, 2014
SUBJECT:
Special-interest license plates: Department of Public Health
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Department of Public Health to apply to
the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to establish a
special-interest license plate that promotes awareness of kidney
disease.
ANALYSIS:
Any state agency, including the Department of Health Care
Services, may sponsor a special-interest license 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,
AB 2450 (LOGUE) Page 2
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 that 25 percent 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 requires the Department of Public Health to apply to
DMV pursuant to AB 84 to sponsor a kidney disease awareness
license plate program.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill to compel the
Department of Public Health to sponsor a special-interest
license plate in order to promote awareness of kidney disease.
Noting that one in nine American adults have kidney disease
and that 90,000 die annually from it, the author points out
that kidney disease comes with no symptoms, making it
difficult to detect until it is quite advanced. Once a kidney
fails, then a person requires either dialysis or a transplant.
Currently 120,000 Americans are awaiting a new kidney. The
author introduced this bill to raise people's awareness of
kidney disease.
2.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
AB 2450 (LOGUE) Page 3
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 (Leslie), Chapter
454, Statutes of 2006, 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.
3.Senate Resolution 28 moratorium on license plate types .
Earlier this year, this committee authored and the Senate
enacted SR 28 (Transportation and Housing Committee), which
declares a moratorium on legislation to increase the number of
license plate types that DMV may issue until the Legislature
receives the results of a study and set of recommendations
from DMV, in consultation with law enforcement, on license
plate designs appropriate for traffic safety and effective law
enforcement in today's environment. This bill does not appear
to be subject to that moratorium, as it does not create a new
license plate type, but simply orders the Department of Public
Health to sponsor a special-interest license plate as it could
of its own volition under existing law.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 76-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 15-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
AB 2450 (LOGUE) Page 4
Monday,June 23, 2014.)
SUPPORT: California Dialysis Council
Da Vita/HealthCare Partners
National Kidney Foundation
OPPOSED: None received.