BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 932
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
932 (Daly and Thurmond)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Transportation |14-0 |Frazier, Achadjian, | |
| | |Baker, Bloom, | |
| | |Campos, Chu, Daly, | |
| | |Dodd, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Kim, | |
| | |Linder, Medina, | |
| | |Melendez, Nazarian | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Arts |7-0 |Calderon, | |
| | |Obernolte, Chu, | |
| | |Hadley, Levine, | |
| | |Medina, Nazarian | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
AB 932
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| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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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.
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.
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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: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Potential one-time special fund costs of approximately $440,000
to DMV for each professional team that seeks, through DPR, to
participate in the specialized license plate program. Pursuant
to current law, DMV will make computer programming and form
changes only after program applications meet a 7,500-application
threshold for each separate team plate. Therefore, the DMV will
incur these costs only if it receives enough applications for
each team's plate to require the DPR to implement a program for
that team. The DMV will incur minor ongoing costs to continue
issuing specialty license plates and renewals under the program.
All of the DMV's initial and ongoing costs will be covered by a
portion of the additional $50 fee paid for original specialized
license plates and the additional $40 fee to renew such plates.
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2)Given that there could be several teams seeking to participate
in the program and that teams might elect to participate at
different times, DPR could incur annual costs of up to $175,000
for at least two to three years for up to two full-time staff to
submit multiple program applications and license prototypes to
DMV, design and print the license plate applications, and
collect and hold applications and fees until 7,500 applications
are received for each participating team. The bill contains no
provision to cover these administrative costs.
3)Potential ongoing unknown revenue to DPR, for local parks and
recreation program, from a portion of the additional fees for
new and renewed specialty license plates generated after the
funding requirements in 1), above are satisfied for each
participating team.
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
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that is directed to DMV and to avoid a proliferation of different
types of plates, which can be troublesome from a law enforcement
perspective.
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."
Please see policy committee analysis for full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0000697