BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 806
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: price
VERSION: 4/23/13
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 30, 2013
SUBJECT:
License plates
DESCRIPTION:
This bill allows the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
conduct a pilot project to test devices that would serve as
alternatives to license plates, registration stickers, and
registration cards.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law requires DMV to issue to each vehicle upon initial
registration two reflectorized license plates or devices to
identify the vehicle. Existing law prescribes the appearance of
these plates as follows:
Each plate must display the word "California" plus the
vehicle's registration number and the year for which its
registration is valid.
Plates, other than those for motorcycles, must be rectangular
in shape, 12 inches in length and six inches in width.
Existing law prohibits DMV from letting a contract to any
nongovernmental entity for purposes of manufacturing license
plates.
Since 1959, California law has authorized DMV to issue stickers,
tabs, or other suitable devices in lieu of license plates, as
prior to 1959, DMV issued vehicles new license plates each year.
Since 1959, however, DMV has issued a vehicle license plates when
the owner first registered it and then annually provides a sticker
(or in the past a metal tab) to show that the owner has renewed
the vehicle's registration for the current year. DMV also
provides the vehicle owner with a registration card to show that
the vehicle is currently registered. DMV has never exercised its
authority to establish devices in lieu of license plates.
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This bill authorizes DMV to establish a pilot program to
evaluate alternatives to vehicle license plates, registration
stickers, and registration cards provided that the pilot project
meets the following requirements:
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) approves any alternative
to license plates or registration stickers and cards.
An entity other than the state shall provide the alternatives
to the license plate and registration cards and stickers at no
cost to the state.
No more than half a percent of vehicles registered in the
state may participate in the pilot project. (This equates to
about 160,000 vehicles.)
DMV must complete the pilot project by January 1, 2017.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill to facilitate DMV's
ability to explore alternatives to California's traditional
metal license plate, plastic-coated registration stickers, and
paper registration cards. He believes that exploring these
alternatives will result in benefits to California generally
and to DMV customers specifically, as the alternatives would
improve efficiency and lower the cost of DMV vehicle
registration services. In particular, wireless-capable
devices could reduce DMV processing and mailing expenditures.
Vehicle owners, particularly fleet owners, could eliminate the
need to receive physical registration tags from DMV by mail
that they then must affix to their vehicles.
2.Exploring savings to DMV . To register a vehicle, the
registered owner must submit proof of insurance, pay
registration and other fees, and when required, provide proof
that the vehicle passed a smog check inspection. (Smog checks
are typically required every other year for motor vehicles
that are at least six years old.) DMV then issues --
typically by mail -- a vehicle registration card and the
appropriate sticker for the vehicle's rear license plate.
DMV registers approximately 26 million vehicles per year and
collects approximately $3.7 billion in renewal fees. For
annual renewal of a vehicle registration, DMV mails the
registered owner a notice and reply envelope approximately 60
days prior to the vehicle's renewal date. The owner can remit
fees and required documentation by mail, via the DMV's
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website, in person at a DMV field office, or at the office of
one of DMV's private industry partners, such as the American
Automobile Association (AAA). Each year over 10 million
renewals take place in DMV field offices.
This pilot project would allow DMV to try out, for example, a
digital electronic plate (see next comment), for which DMV
could electronically and directly to the plate issue updated
"stickers" and an electronic registration card.
3.Digital electronic plates . A supporter of this bill is Smart
Plate Mobile, a company that holds a patent on a digital
electronic license plate, which is essentially a computer
screen that can take on the size and appearance of a standard
California license plate (i.e., a 12" by 6" white,
reflectorized rectangle with blue characters and "California"
in red across the top). This product also allows that screen,
once a vehicle comes to a stop for four seconds or longer, to
display a different image on the plate such as an
advertisement. This bill does not authorize the display of
anything other than the existing California license plate on a
screen, but thus far it appears that Smart Plate is the
company most interested in participating in such a pilot
project. Smart Plate has offered to make its product
available to DMV to test. This bill provides specific
statutory authorization for that to occur.
4.Who would participate ? Last year, to determine interest in
providing alternatives to the metal plate, DMV issued a
Request for Information that asked for vendor input on the
replacement of traditional metal license plates and stickers
that DMV could use to modernize its processes and procedures
for vehicle registration. Smart Plate Mobile was one of two
entities that responded to this Request for Information.
5.160,000 is a big number . This bill allows the pilot project
to include 0.5 % of the registered vehicles in California.
There are approximately 32 million registered vehicles in the
state, so half a percent totals 160,000 vehicles. This would
be a very large pilot project, but because a private vendor
would have to provide the alternatives to the license plate at
no cost to the state, it is unlikely that any one vendor would
want to supply a large number of its product at its own cost.
This should serve to limit the number of vehicles involved in
the pilot project this bill authorizes to a much smaller
number than 160,000.
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POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 24,
2013.)
SUPPORT: Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Smart Plate Mobile
OPPOSED: None received.