BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 192 Hearing Date: 7/14/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Travis Allen | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |7/8/2015 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Randy Chinn | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Specialized license plates: coastal conservancy awareness DIGEST: This bill 1) establishes a Coastal Conservancy awareness license plate program and 2) authorizes the expenditure of funds raised from the existing Pet Lover's specialty license plate program. ANALYSIS: Existing law provides for a specialized license plate program, under which the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) may issue new special-interest license plates. Special-interest license plates may only be issued on behalf of state agencies and only provided that for each state agency: 1) 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). 2) 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. AB 192 (Travis Allen) Page 2 of ? 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 $98 to personalize. 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. This bill requires the State Coastal Conservancy to apply to the DMV to sponsor a coastal conservancy awareness license plate program. The net proceeds of the program shall be allocated to the State Coastal Conservancy to accomplish any of the following: 1) Educating the public on the history of surfing. 2) Providing support for lifeguards at high-risk beaches. 3) Providing for operation and maintenance of access ways, educational opportunities, and increasing attendance at beaches. 4) Hosting and supporting forums and events to increase coastal conservancy awareness. 5) Developing and supporting activities designed to assist in preserving and protecting the shoreline. 6) Providing for the maintenance and operation of coastal access infrastructure. 7) Providing for the protection, habitat, care, rehabilitation, and reintroduction of California sea lions. Under existing law, the Veterinary Medical Board has sponsored a specialty license plate for pet lovers, which has received more than 7,500 applications and is now in production. This bill authorizes the revenue received from that plate to be used to cover the DMV's costs and, upon appropriation, by the Veterinary Medical Board for disbursal though a non-profit organization to qualifying spay and neuter facilities. COMMENTS: 1) Purpose. According to the author, this bill seeks to expand the opportunity for the Coastal Conservancy to AB 192 (Travis Allen) Page 3 of ? execute their duties as well as provide coastal access, education, seal lion habitat and rehabilitation, and operation and maintenance of infrastructure. 2) History of special interest license plates. Historically, the Vehicle Code required the 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 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 the provisions of the Vehicle Code described above. 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 (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. A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court may have upended the Gourley decision. On June 18, 2015, the Court issued Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate AB 192 (Travis Allen) Page 4 of ? Veterans, which appears to be a contrary ruling to Gourley. However, the committee needs to consult with others before providing a more definitive opinion. 3) Rough seas forecast. The track record of specialty license plates reaching the 7,500 threshold is poor. Of the 12 legislatively sponsored plates approved this century, only two have met the threshold. 4) Similar plate exists. The DMV currently offers a Coastal Commission license plate to support some of the general activities described in this bill: coastal public education programs, maintaining public beaches and coastal restoration and enhancement. 5) Loving pets. The Veterinary Medical Board (Board) sponsored a specialty plate administratively with the purpose of funding low- and no-cost animal sterilization services. That plate received more than 7,500 applications and is now in production. The Board, as the sponsoring agency for the Pet Lover's License Plate Program, must retain the oversight for granting funds collected through the specialized plate program to qualified providers. However, the Board does not have sufficient staff to administer the program and is seeking assistance from a non-profit organization to provide general administrative support, such as providing recommendations for grant criteria, accepting and reviewing grant applications, and making recommendations to the Board regarding eligible providers of low-cost spay and neuter services. Under this bill, the Board would retain its authority and responsibility to make decisions regarding awarding grants, and would oversee the distribution of the funds, but may contract with a qualified non-profit for general administrative support. 6) Technical amendment. The Coastal Conservancy has suggested a technical amendment to clarify that the purposes for which funds will be used are consistent with their mission. That language is as follows: Page 3, line 2: Replace "following purposes" with "purposes of Division 21 (commencing with Section 31000) of the Public Resources Code, prioritizing, but not limited to, all of the following:" AB 192 (Travis Allen) Page 5 of ? Related Legislation: AB 63 (Bonilla, 2015) - establishes a school violence prevention specialized license plate program. This bill is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 270 (Nazarian, 2015) - establishes a diabetes awareness specialized license plate. This bill is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 932 (Daly, 2015) - establishes a professional sports specialized license plate. This bill is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 1338 (Gomez, 2015) - establishes a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness specialized license plate. This bill is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 49 (Buchanan, Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014) - requires the State Department of Health Care Services to apply to the DMV to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program. AB 1096 (Nestande, Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014) - requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to the DMV to sponsor a Salton Sea license plate program. AB 2321 (Gomez, Chapter 358, Statutes of 2014) - requires the Office of Emergency Services to apply to the DMV for a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness and specialty license plate program. AB 2450 (Logue, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014) - requires the State Department of Public Health to apply to the DMV for a kidney disease awareness specialty license plate program. AB 244 (Bonilla, Chapter 690, Statutes of 2013) - requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to apply to the DMV to sponsor a veterans specialty license plate program. Assembly Votes: Floor: 71-4 Appr: 17-0 Trans: 16-0 AB 192 (Travis Allen) Page 6 of ? FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, July 8, 2014.) SUPPORT: None received OPPOSITION: None received -- END --