BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 932 Hearing Date: 7/7/2015
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|Author: |Daly |
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|Version: |5/28/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Randy Chinn |
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SUBJECT: Specialized license plates: professional sports
DIGEST: This bill authorizes a professional sports license
plate program.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law provides for a specialized license plate program,
under which the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) may issue new
special-interest license plates. Special-interest license
plates may only be issued on behalf of state agencies and only
provided that for each state agency:
1)The license plate has "a design or contains a message that
publicizes or promotes a state agency, or the official policy,
mission, or work of a state agency." The design shall also be
confined to the left of and below the numerical series (i.e.,
no full-plate designs allowed).
2)The state agency submits 7,500 applications and accompanying
fees to DMV for the license plate. The state agency has 12
months to collect these applications and fees, but it can
extend that to a maximum of 24 months if it notifies and
offers to refund fees to those who applied during the first 12
months. Once a plate is issued, DMV stops issuing that plate
for the agency if the number of plates drops below 7,500.
In addition to the usual registration and license fees, DMV
charges the following additional fees for specialized license
AB 932 (Daly) Page 2 of ?
plates: $50 for the initial issuance, $40 for annual renewal,
and $98 to personalize. DMV deducts its administrative costs
from the revenues generated. The net revenues derived from a
specialized license plate are then available upon appropriation
for the sponsoring state agency to expend exclusively on
projects and programs that promote the state agency's official
policy, mission, or work.
This bill:
1)Requires the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to apply
to the DMV to sponsor a professional sports franchise license
plate program upon entering into a memorandum of understanding
with a California professional sports franchise to
participate.
2)Requires the specialty license plate to include the logo,
emblem, or trademark of the sports franchise.
3)Requires that the funds raised from the issuance of the
plates, after deduction for administrative costs, shall be
deposited into the California State Parks Account to fund
local parks and recreation programs.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. The author notes that spending for local parks has
decreased even as demand grows. Communities facing budget
problems have been forced to let their parks fall into
disrepair, or to close them altogether. The author created this
bill to establish a dedicated funding source for local park
programs.
History of special-interest license plates. Historically, the
Vehicle Code required the DMV to issue, upon legislative
authorization, a special-interest license plate bearing a
distinctive design or decal of a sponsoring organization to any
vehicle owner that pays specified fees, provided that the
sponsoring organization met certain conditions. These
conditions included that the sponsor of a special-interest
license plate had to be a nonprofit organization and had to
collect 7,500 applications and fees for a special license plate
in order to pay DMV's costs of creating a new plate, which are
approximately $375,000 or 7,500 applications times the $50 fee.
AB 932 (Daly) Page 3 of ?
In 2004, a federal court decision, Women's Resource Network v.
Gourley, E.D. Cal 2004, F.Supp.2d, 2004 U.S. Dist., invalidated
these provisions of the Vehicle Code. In the Gourley decision,
the court declared California's special-interest license plate
statutes unconstitutional because they violated the First
Amendment right to freedom of speech. The court specifically
objected to the Legislature "picking and choosing" special
license plates that private organizations propose, in essence
promoting the message of some organizations while denying this
right to others. The court did allow the 10 special-interest
license plates existing at the time of its decision to remain in
use and available to new applicants, as they are today.
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.
Newly created plates and the revenue they generate must
publicize or promote a state agency or the official policy,
mission, or work of a state agency.
A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court may have
upended the Gourley decision. On June 18, 2015, the Court
issued Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans,
which appears to be a contrary ruling to Gourley. However, the
committee needs to consult with others before providing a more
definitive opinion.
Nothing like it. This bill is unique from other specialized
license plate in several respects:
1)Sales of these plates will raise money for both state and
non-state purposes. The funds raised from the sale of
specialized license plates typically go to the state purpose
specified in the legislation. However, this bill directs
funds raised from the sale of these license plates to be split
on an as-yet-undetermined basis between the charities selected
by the sports team and the California State Parks account.
2)The cost of these plates will be significantly higher than for
other specialized license plates. Because the funds will be
split, this bill envisions that the specialty license plate
AB 932 (Daly) Page 4 of ?
fees for this program will be double or more the fees for
other specialty license plates. This ensures that the
California State Parks account will receive the same amount as
for any other specialty license plate, while the sports team's
charity will receive any amount above that.
3)These plates will have the logo of a private, for-profit
enterprise. This bill authorizes the placement of the logos
and emblems of sports teams on the license plate. Specialty
plates that use logos typically feature non-profit
organizations such as the Girl Scouts; featuring a for-profit
organization is almost unprecedented. The lone exception is
the California Cultural and Historical Endowment plate, which
features a picture of Snoopy, but that authorization was done
administratively, not in statute. Would establishing this
precedent open the door to other for-profit entities to do the
same? There would be little basis to object to the Walmart,
SEIU, or Smith & Wesson logos on state-issued license plates.
The author and committee may wish to carefully consider this
precedent-setting provision. While California professional
sports teams are popular, and successful, especially in
Northern California, it may be inappropriate for private
entities to have their logos affixed to a government document,
irrespective of the merit of the cause.
While there is virtually no California history of for-profit
organizations on license plates, allowing sports teams on
license plates seems to be common elsewhere. According to the
author, 27 states allow sports team logos on their license
plates. In Florida, seven professional sports teams and
NASCAR all have specialty license plates; Texas has 18
different plates with professional sports affiliations and at
least one for a consumer product, Pepsi.
4)This program is likely to be much more successful than prior
specialized license plate programs. While the vast majority
of specialty license plates fail to meet the 7,500 threshold,
it seems likely that the sports plate will have little trouble
meeting that number. In Florida, the Miami Heat, Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars all have sold more than
7,500 plates. In California, where our professional sports
teams are more successful, this could result in millions of
additional dollars for state park programs. Under this bill,
the 7,500-plate minimum threshold applies to the program, not
each individual sports team.
AB 932 (Daly) Page 5 of ?
Charitable intent isn't explicit. The intent of this bill is to
partner with professional sports teams and to split the proceeds
with the charities of those teams, but that intent is not
specified in the bill. The author and committee may wish to
consider adding an explicit requirement that the portion of the
charges not going to the state must be provided to the
charitable foundation of the sports team for charitable
purposes.
How much? Current law establishes the charges for specialized
license plates, but the intent of this bill is to allow for
substantially higher charges, with the state getting the usual
charge ($50 initially, $40 for renewals, $98 for
personalization) and the remainder going to the charity of the
sports team. The author and committee may wish to consider
clarifying this arrangement by explicitly allowing for higher
charges. Moreover, if the intent is to allow for substantially
higher charges, it may be appropriate to split the charges 50/50
between the state and the professional sports team charity.
Opposition. The Department of Finance opposes this bill as
unnecessary, as a process already exists that allows state
agencies to apply to the DMV to sponsor specialty license
plates.
Related Legislation:
AB 63 (Bonilla) - establishes a school violence prevention
specialized license plate program. This bill is also being
heard today in this committee.
AB 192 (Allen) - establishes a coastal conservancy awareness
specialized license plate. This bill is pending in the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee.
AB 270 (Nazarian) - establishes a diabetes awareness specialized
license plate. This bill is also being heard today in this
committee.
AB 1338 (Gomez) - establishes a domestic violence and sexual
assault awareness specialized license plate. This bill is also
being heard today in this committee.
AB 932 (Daly) Page 6 of ?
AB 49 (Buchanan, Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014) - requires the
state Department of Health Care Services to apply to the DMV to
sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program.
AB 1096 (Nestande, Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014) - requires the
Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to the DMV to sponsor a
Salton Sea license plate program.
AB 2321 (Gomez, Chapter 358, Statutes of 2014) - requires the
Office of Emergency Services to apply to the DMV for a domestic
violence and sexual assault awareness and specialty license
plate program.
AB 2450 (Logue, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014) - requires the
state Department of Public Health to apply to the DMV for a
kidney disease awareness specialty license plate program.
AB 244 (Bonilla, Chapter 690, Statutes of 2013) - requires the
Department of Veterans Affairs to apply to the DMV to sponsor a
veterans' specialty license plate program.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 77-0
Appr: 17-0
AEST&IM: 7-0
Trans: 14-0
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
July 1, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
California Park and Recreation Society
Anaheim Ducks Hockey Club
OPPOSITION:
Department of Finance
AB 932 (Daly) Page 7 of ?
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