BILL NUMBER: AB 1884	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Harper
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gallagher and Olsen)
   (Coauthor: Senator Cannella)

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to add Section 5166 to the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1884, as introduced, Harper. Specialized license plates: mental
health awareness.
   Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a specialized license
plate program, and the DMV is required to issue those license plates
if the agency meets certain requirements. Existing law also requires
the DMV to charge specified fees for certain services related to the
issuance of those plates.
   This bill would require the Mental Health Services Division,
within the State Department of Health Care Services, to apply to the
DMV to sponsor a mental health awareness license plate program, and
would require the DMV to issue the license plates if the Mental
Health Services Division meets certain requirements. The bill would
also establish the Mental Health Awareness Fund in the State Treasury
and would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as
specified, to be deposited in the fund for use, upon appropriation by
the Legislature to the Mental Health Services Division, for mental
health awareness and education.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 5166 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
   5166.  (a) The Mental Health Services Division, within the State
Department of Health Care Services, shall apply to the department,
pursuant to Section 5156, to sponsor a mental health awareness
license plate program. The department shall issue specialized license
plates for that program if the Mental Health Services Division
complies with the requirements of this article.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 5157, the
additional fees prescribed by Section 5157 for the issuance, renewal,
or transfer of the specialized license plates shall be deposited,
after the department deducts its administrative costs, in the Mental
Health Awareness Fund, which is hereby established in the State
Treasury. The funds in the account shall be used, upon appropriation
by the Legislature to the Mental Health Services Division, for mental
health awareness and education.
   (c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department, in
consultation with the Mental Health Services Division, will design
and make available for issuance pursuant to this article special
mental health awareness license plates. Specifically, it is the
intent of the Legislature that the license plates issued pursuant to
this section consist of a lime green mental health awareness ribbon
to the left of the numerical series and a mental health awareness
message, such as "Mental Health Matters," below the numerical series.