BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1323
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 6, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    SB 1323 (Lieu) - As Amended:  August 4, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:14-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill modifies funding and administration of the Pet Lover's  
          specialized license plate program. Specifically, this bill:

             1)   Requires the DMV, after deducting its administrative  
               costs, to deposit revenue derived from specialized license  
               plates issued under the Pet Lover's License Plate Program  
               into the newly-established Pet Lover's License Fund (PLF)  
               rather than into the Specialized License Plate Fund.

             2)   Transfers moneys in the Specialized License Plate Fund  
               as of the operative date of this bill, which were derived  
               from sales of specialized license plates under the Pet  
               Lover's License Plate Program, to the PLF.

             3)   Provides that monies in the PLF are  
               continuously-appropriated to the Veterinary Medical Board  
               (VMB), rather than subject to appropriation by the  
               Legislature, solely to fund no-cost or low-cost animal  
               sterilization programs pursuant to regulations to be  
               adopted by the board, which may include designation of a  
               nonprofit corporation to administer the program.

           FISCAL EFFECT 

          1)Depending on the number of licenses plates sold, the  
            continuous appropriation could provide expenditure authority  
            to the VBM exceeding $150,000 in any fiscal year without  
            legislative budgetary oversight.

          2)One-time transfer to the PLF of $120,000 in funds collected to  








                                                                  SB 1323
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            date for the Pet Lover's program.

           COMMENTS  

              1)   Background  . DMV currently administers 12 specialized  
               license plate programs, including the Pet Lover's  
               specialized license plate program.  AB 610 (Solorio),  
               Chapter 9, Statutes of 2012, provided the VMB an additional  
               12-month period to meet the 7,500 application threshold as  
               required by existing law for such programs.  The board  
               obtained the necessary applications over the additional 12  
               months and began issuing Pet Lover's specialized license  
               plates in September of 2013. 

            This bill requires DMV to deposit additional revenue generated  
            from the Pet Lover's specialized license plate program into  
            the newly created PLF and to be continuously appropriated to  
            VMB.  The author introduced this bill in order to streamline  
            the funding process for the Pet Lover's plate program and to  
            keep revenue flowing to programs that fund animal  
            sterilization services.  Currently a timing issue exists  
            between when DMV started collecting fees for the Pet Lover's  
            specialized license plate program and when DMV has the  
            authority to allocate the funds to VMB.  Due to this timing  
            issue, VMB would receive program funds no earlier than July  
            2015.  The author notes the provisions in this bill are  
            necessary to ensure that the funds meant to go to no-cost or  
            low-cost spay and neuter programs actually reach their  
            intended purpose in a timely manner and do not get delayed in  
            the state budget process.

             2)   The  continuous appropriation  in this bill is contrary to  
               the general policy of this committee and would be an  
               exception to the other specialized license plate programs,  
               which are subject to Legislative review and appropriation  
               in the annual budget act. The author's recent amendments  
               will allow for immediate transfer of moneys collected to  
               date for the intended use.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081