BILL NUMBER: AB 1884 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 10, 2016
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 amended, 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,
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 department
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,
department, 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, The
State Department of Health Care Services shall apply to the
department, Department of Motor Vehicles,
pursuant to Section 5156, to sponsor a mental health awareness
license plate program. The department
Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue specialized license
plates for that program if the Mental Health Services
Division State Department of Health Care Services
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 Department of Motor
Vehicles 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,
State Department of Health Care Services, for
mental health awareness and education.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
department, Department of Motor Vehicles, in
consultation with the Mental Health Services Division,
Division within the State Department of Health Care
Services, 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.