BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 932
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Date of Hearing: April 21, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, TOURISM, AND
INTERNET MEDIA
Ian Charles Calderon, Chair
AB 932
(Daly) - As Amended April 8, 2015
SUBJECT: Specialized license plates: professional sports
SUMMARY: Requires the State Department of Parks and Recreation
(DPR) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
sponsor a specialized license plate program using professional
sport team logos, as specified. Establishes the California State
Parks Account (Account) and specifies that revenues from the
Account be used by DPR to fund local park and recreation
programs.
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
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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 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:
1)Author's statement: pro sports specialty license plates are a
win win.
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According to the author, "A report by the Resources for the
Future found that while parks have grown in popularity and
demand, park spending has remained relatively flat and
actually decreased during the past two economic recessions.
The economic, health, and environmental benefits of parks is
well documented; however it has become increasingly difficult
for municipal governments to provide funding for them.
California is home to millions of sports fans, and this
legislation provides an easy way for drivers to show support
for their favorite sports team, and parks and recreational
programs simultaneously. In addition, the professional sports
charities will be able to grow their programs, which will also
provide benefit to the People of California."
2)Background.
a) Requirements for constitutionality of specialty tags.
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
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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.
b) Professional sports specialty plates elsewhere.
Currently, 25 states and Washington D.C. have implemented
specialized license plate programs in some form using
professional sport team logos. Revenues from these programs
have been used to fund programs such as, youth development,
homelessness, and academic scholarships. Overall,
information provided by the author demonstrates that these
programs using professional team logos have been successful
in raising revenue for various social programs.
3)Process for professional team DMV specialty plate designation.
To begin the process, professional sports teams interested in
participating in the specialty license plate program will
contact the Department, and an Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) agreement will be signed between the parties outlining
the nature of the charitable activities of the professional
sports team (Charity) in order to assure compliance with legal
requirements for specialty plates discussed in Comment 2
above, and license fee to be collected on behalf of the
Charity.
The Department will then submit a Letter of Intent to DMV
which contains a financial plan stating the purpose(s) for
which the revenue will be used. The parties will then have
12-months to collect 7,500 applications. Each individual team
must submit a request, and gather 7,500 fan applications prior
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to the striking of the first plate. A process exists for
extension of time should a team fail to meet the one year
deadline.
Once sufficient commitment applications have been gathered, a
license plate prototype must be submitted for approval, and
the design, logo, and message on the plate must publicize or
promote the official policy, mission, or work of the
sponsoring state agency. After plate design approval by DMV
and the California Highway Patrol, the DMV will authorize the
plate prototype to be manufactured. The implementation cost
for the specialized license plates is approximately $400,000.
The cost is recovered from the sale of the license plates.
Once the implementation costs have been met, a deduction
(Administrative Service Fee) will be taken for ongoing
administrative costs from every application thereafter.
After deducting implementation costs and ongoing
Administrative Service Fees, the remainder of the monies will
be allocated as follows:
a) Sequential plate configurations go into the Specialized
License Plate Fund.
b) Personalized configurations go into two different funds:
i) A Specialized License Plate Fund for your plate
program.
ii) Environmental License Plate Fund for the portion of
fees that is attributable to each.
Upon appropriation of the funds by the Legislature to the
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California State Parks Account, created by this bill within
the Specialized License Plate Fund, the Department will remit
the portion of the fee collected on behalf of the Charity
pursuant to the MOU.
4)Department of Parks and Recreation Office of Grants and Local
Services (OGAL)
According to the Department, the following types of services
and equipment could be
purchased for local parks under the income generated by the
bill, based upon the experience of their typical grant
programs - which have ranged in size from $2 million to $184
million. They also advise that a key component to a
successful grant program is to tailor the program to the
amount of funding available; if the amount of funding is
relatively small, it would be worth considering having a match
requirement, limiting the types and locations of eligible
entities, and being specific about the types of projects that
are eligible. At any amount less than $10 million, it would be
worth considering a match requirement to reduce the number of
applications.
OGALS typically limits the maximum grant amount to no more
than 10% of the entire program. So, if the program amount is
$2 million, the maximum grant is $200,000 (this ensures at
least ten awards).
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Here's the approximate cost of some typical items OGALS funds:
Programs for children (summer day camps, field trip
programs, etc.) - $25k to $200k
Playgrounds (build/replace) - $50k to $250k
Sports field irrigation system - $50k to $100k
Restrooms - $100k to $250k
Sports field lighting - $150k
Artificial turf for one soccer field - $500k to $750k
5)Professional sports charities. According to information found
on the Internet, each professional sports team in major sports
is involved in local charities. A sample list of sports and
teams includes the following charitable efforts:
a) National Football League (NFL)
Oakland Raiders. Organizations involved with: Brave Kids, Boys &
Girls Club of Oakland, California Department of Social Services,
Children's Hospital Oakland, KDOL Sports Forum, food drive,
Football 101, Komen Race for the Cure, Menlo Charity Horse Show,
Oakland Police Department, Read Aloud Day 2000, Special
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Olympics, Toys for Tots. Team programs: Battle of the Bay
basketball charity game, donations of turkey and ham during
Thanksgiving, Football 101, Let Us Play! Sports Camp for girls,
Offense-Defense Football Camp, toy drive.
San Diego Chargers. Organizations involved with: California
Interscholastic Federation Championship football games,
Children's Hospital and Health Center, Pop Warner football, San
Diego Blood Bank. Team programs: Alex Spanos All Star Classic
(high school all-star football game), Chargers Blood Drive,
Chargers Champions (benefiting youth, education and sports in
San Diego County), High School Coach of the Week, Toss for Tots
(members make a donation for each Chargers touchdown during the
season).
San Francisco 49ERS. Charitable arm: 49ers Foundation.
Organizations involved with: Brave Kids, The Drug Abuse
Resistance Program, Emergency Housing Consortium, Glide Memorial
Church, Hamilton Family Center, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Susan G.
Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Team programs: 49ers Academy
(personalized education setting for students at risk of dropping
out), 49ers Coat Drive, 49ers Food Drive, Bay Area All-Star
Scholarship Team (in partnership with the NBA Golden State
Warriors, MLB Oakland As, NFL Oakland Raiders, MLB San Francisco
Giants and NHL San Jose Sharks awarded to six students),
Football 101, Gatorade/49ers Junior Training Camp, High School
Coach of the Week, Holiday Hospital Visits, Operation Blessing
2000.
b) Major League Baseball (MLB).
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Charity. Through their involvement
in a variety of outreach programs and non-profit organizations,
Angels Baseball has proven to be a valuable member of the
surrounding community. From laying down the foundation one brick
at a time with the Angels Brick Project to helping fund local
and national youth organizations, the Angels Baseball Foundation
focuses on initiatives aimed to create and improve Education,
Healthcare, Arts & Sciences, and Community related youth
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programs throughout the region, in addition to providing
children the opportunity to experience the great game of
baseball and its countless positive attributes.
Los Angeles Dodgers Charity. Founded in 1998, the Dodgers Dream
Foundation (DDF) was created to provide educational, athletic
and recreational opportunities for the youth of the Greater Los
Angeles community. The Foundation places special emphasis on
helping traditionally under-served youth.
Oakland Athletics Charity. The Oakland Athletics host numerous
community events including Golf Classics, Awareness Days, as
well as support youth baseball programs and educational
endeavors.
San Diego Padres Charity. The Padres Foundation for Children,
established in 1995 by Padres Chairman John Moores, is the
primary source of funding for the club's outreach initiatives in
the areas of children's health, education and youth
baseball/softball. The Foundation raises funds through corporate
sponsorships and through a number of programs in which fans can
participate, including Scoreboard Surprises, an online
charitable auction, and the annual Shirts Off Their Backs
fundraiser.
San Francisco Giants Charity. The Giants' work in the community
translates into a variety of unique and progressive programs
dedicated to addressing some of the most pressing needs of
Northern California children and their families, including
health, violence prevention, youth fitness and recreation,
education and literacy.
c) National Basketball Association (NBA).
Since the NBA launched its NBA Cares initiatives in 2005, the
league, its teams and players have raised and donated more than
$242 million to charity; completed more than 3 million hours of
community service; and created nearly 1,000 places where
children and families can live, learn or play. The league counts
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KaBoom!, Special Olympics, YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of
America, UNICEF, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Share Our Strength
and GLAAD among its social responsibility partners.
6)Extra fees paid above DMV registration for specialty license
plates are tax deductible.
According to a 2009 FTB Information Letter requesting
clarification on the deductibility of special interest license
plate fees as a charitable contribution under California law,
"When a taxpayer, with the intention of making a gift,
purchases an item of value from a qualified charity, the
excess of the payment over the value received is a charitable
contribution. As a result, taxpayers who pay the additional
fee are entitled to treat as a charitable contribution the
difference between the amounts paid for the Arts Council
license plate and a regular California license plate...This
same conclusion is applicable to registrants that purchase
environmental license plates as well as other similarly
situated registrants when purchasing other special license
plates that support other charitable purposes."
7)Committee comment: no definition of professional sports. Other
states which have enacted similar legislation have offered a
rather broad definition of professional sports, for instance
New Jersey law provides, "As used in this act, 'professional
sports team' includes, but is not limited to, teams and
franchises associated with the National Hockey League; Major
League Baseball Properties, Inc.; NASCAR; NFL Properties, LLC;
and National Basketball Properties, Inc." By contrast Ohio
offers plates of specific teams and not sports per se, such as
the Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns,
Cleveland Indians and Columbus Blue Jackets. As the bill moves
forward the author may wish to consider adding some parameters
to the teams who may participate in the specialty plate
program.
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8)Prior and related legislation.
a) AB 270 (Nazarian), would require the State Department of
Public Health to apply to the DMV to sponsor a diabetes
awareness, education, and research specialized license
plate program (program), as specified. Currently pending
before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
According to the Assembly Transportation Committee, 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 recently:
b) AB 482 (Atkins), Chapter 590, Statutes of 2014, aka, the
Snoopy Plate, heard and passed out of this committee,
supporting small capital projects in museums.
c) AB 1096 (Nestande), Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014,
supporting Salton Sea restoration.
d) AB 2450, (Logue), Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014,
supporting kidney disease research.
e) AB 49 (Buchanan), Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014,
supporting breast cancer awareness.
f) AB 2321 (Gomez), Chapter 358, Statutes of 2014,
supporting domestic violence prevention.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
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Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers
Oakland A's
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Opposition
There is no opposition on file
Analysis Prepared by:Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. /
(916) 319-3450
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