BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 192
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
192 (Travis Allen)
As Amended September 1, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |71-4 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 9, |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY: Authorizes the expenditure of funds raised from the
existing Pet Lover's specialized license plate program.
The Senate amendments:
1)Delete the requirement that the State Coastal Conservancy
apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a
coastal conservancy awareness specialized license plate
program, and all provisions related to this proposed
specialized license plate program.
2)Authorize the revenue received from Pet Lover's specialized
license plate program to be used to cover DMV's administrative
costs and, upon appropriation, by the Veterinary Medical Board
(VMB) for disbursal though a non-profit organization to
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qualifying spay and neuter facilities.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Allows any state agency to apply to DMV to sponsor a
specialized license plate program.
2)Requires DMV to issue specialized license plates for that
program if the agency complies with all statutory
requirements.
3)Prohibits DMV from establishing a specialized license plate
program for an agency until it has received not less than
7,500 paid applications for that agency's specialized license
plates.
4)Requires the agency to collect and hold applications for the
plates. Once the agency has received at least 7,500
applications, it must submit the applications, along with the
necessary fees, to DMV.
5)Prohibits advance payment to DMV of its estimated or actual
administrative costs associated with the issuance of a
particular specialized license plate from constituting
compliance with the 7,500 application threshold requirement.
6)Requires funds accruing to a sponsoring state agency from the
sale of specialized license plates to be expended exclusively
for projects and programs that promote that agency's official
policy, mission, or work.
7)Allows specialized license plates to feature a distinctive
design, decal, or distinctive message in a two-inch by
three-inch space to the left of the plate's numerical sequence
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and a space not larger than 5/8-inch in height below the
numerical series.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)The State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) would incur costs of
$30,000 in 2015-16 for plate design and development of
materials, and likely minor costs in 2016-17, and potentially
2017-18, for staff time to collect the initial 7,500
applications and fees for the establishment of the plate
program (State Coastal Conservancy Fund). There could be
additional costs of approximately $60,000 if SCC executes a
marketing strategy to attract applicants. If the license
plate program is implemented, SCC would incur ongoing
administrative costs, potentially up to $100,000 annually
(Coastal Conservancy Awareness Fund).
2)Assuming 7,500 pre-paid applications are collected by the SCC,
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 2017-18
or 2018-19, partially offset by pre-paid application fees of
$375,000, leaving a net 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 coastal conservancy awareness plates. All
ongoing costs thereafter would be fully offset by fees from
renewals and issuance of new plates.
3)Upon full implementation of the proposed plate program, there
would be ongoing revenues of approximately $300,000 annually
for use by SCC for specified conservancy purposes (based on
7,500 plate renewals, and not accounting for administrative
costs).
4)Diversion of funding for personalizing a coastal conservancy
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awareness plate from the California Environmental License
Plate Fund to the School Violence Prevention Fund. See staff
comments.
5)Likely minor fiscal impacts related to the authority for the
VMB to designate a nonprofit entity for administering grant
distribution under the Pet Lover's plate program. The overall
limit of 25% for administrative purposes would still apply.
(Pet Lover's Fund)
COMMENTS: Prior to 2007, any new specialized license plate
required specific legislative authorization. That practice was
held to be unconstitutional by the federal courts in that the
Legislature approved some of the plates and rejected others,
while using no standardized or objective criteria for those
decisions. 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.
Plates now created and the revenue they generate must publicize
or promote a state agency, or the official policy, mission, or
work of a state agency. Furthermore, the process requires that
at least 7,500 paid applications must be received by the state
agency prior to notifying DMV. The 7,500-application threshold
was previously put into statute for specialized license plates
and was arrived at in an attempt to assure that DMV's startup
costs would be fully covered by the portion of the registration
fee surcharge that is directed to DMV and to avoid a
proliferation of different types of plates, which can be
troublesome from a law enforcement perspective.
This bill proposes to establish an expenditure framework for the
Pet Lover's specialized license plate program. The VMB
sponsored a specialized license plate administratively with the
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purpose of funding low- and no-cost animal sterilization
services. That plate received more than 7,500 applications and
is now in production. VMB, as the sponsoring agency for the Pet
Lover's specialized license plate program, must retain the
oversight for granting funds collected through the specialized
plate program to qualified providers. However, VMB 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 VMB regarding eligible providers of
low-cost spay and neuter services. Under this bill, VMB 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.
Analysis Prepared by: Manny Leon / TRANS. /
(916) 319-2093 FN: 0001957