BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 932
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, 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
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.
AB 932
Page 2
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: 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.
AB 932
Page 3
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.
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, these
programs using professional team logos have been successful in
raising revenue for various social programs.
The author introduced this bill in order to provide an
additional revenue source for state park grants that help fund
local park and recreation programs. 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.
Thus, the author asserts, "California is home to millions of
sports fans. This bill provides an easy way for drivers to show
their support for their favorite sports team while
simultaneously helping park and recreational programs."
Related legislation: AB 270 (Nazarian), requires 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. AB 270 passed out of
this committee on a 16-0 vote and is awaiting a hearing in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 932
Page 4
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
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].
Double referral: This bill will be referred to the Assembly
Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet
Media should it pass out of this committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
AB 932
Page 5
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093