BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 270
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Date of Hearing: March 23, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 270
(Nazarian) - As Amended March 16, 2015
SUBJECT: Specialized license plates: diabetes awareness
SUMMARY: Requires the State Department of Public Health (DPA)
to apply to the State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
sponsor a diabetes awareness, education, and research
specialized license plate program (program), as specified.
Establishes the Diabetes Awareness Fund (fund) and specifies
that revenues from the fund will be used by DPA to fund programs
related to diabetes awareness and prevention, as specified.
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
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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
and a space not larger than 5/8-inch in height below the
numerical series.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
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
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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.
Diabetes is a serious medical condition that has impacted people
across the entire United States. According to the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 28.9 million people over
age 20 have diabetes. Moreover, recent studies cited in a
California State Auditor (CSA) report (2014) found that the
number of people diagnosed with diabetes in California has
jumped 50 percent from 2001 to 2012. While cases of diabetes
have increased, CSA further reported that funding for diabetes
prevention has declined over the past several years and has
resulted in program expenditure cuts.
The author introduced this bill in attempt to establish an
additional funding source for diabetes prevention and raise
awareness through education and outreach efforts. The author
notes that this bill "will establish a diabetes specialized
license plate in order to promote diabetes awareness and allow
motorist to show their support for the prevention of diabetes."
Previous legislation: Over the past 5 years, 13 bills have been
introduced directing a state agency to sponsor a specialized
license plate for a variety of causes. Of the 13 bills, eight
passed the Legislature and were signed by the Governor. Most
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recently, in 2014, four bills were introduced and enacted to
raise money for Salton Sea restoration [AB 1096 (Nestande),
Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014], kidney disease research [AB 2450
(Logue), Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014], breast cancer awareness
[AB 49 (Buchanan), Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014], and domestic
violence prevention [AB 2321 (Gomez), Chapter 358, Statutes of
2014].
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Diabetes Association
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal, AFL-CIO
Behavioral Diabetes Institute
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
AB 270
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