BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1884
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Date of Hearing: March 14, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 1884
(Harper) - As Amended March 10, 2016
SUBJECT: Specialized license plates: mental health awareness
SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a
mental health awareness specialized license plate program.
Establishes the Mental Health Awareness Fund and specifies that
revenues from the fund will be used by DHCS to fund programs
related to mental health awareness and education. States the
intent of the Legislature that DMV consult with the Mental
Health Services Division of DHCS to design the specialized plate
containing specific images and messages.
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
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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.
5)Prohibits advance payment to DMV of its estimated or actual
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, as the
Legislature approved some plates and rejected others, without
using any 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. The current specialized license plate
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program permits a state agency to initiate the development and
sponsorship of a specialized plate, thus no additional
legislation is required to authorize the creation of a new
plate.
Plates created under the current program 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. This 7,500-application threshold was previously
put into statute in an attempt to ensure 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.
In regards to this bill, the author intends to promote awareness
and encourage the de-stigmatization of mental health illnesses.
Every Mind Matters, California's Mental Health Movement, has
found that 50 percent of Californians will experience a mental
health challenge in their lifetime and between 70 and 90 percent
of individuals report reduced symptoms and improved quality of
life with treatment and support. According to the author,
"Awareness is an important part of treating mental health issues
in California. This bill will let Californians spread the word
about this critical issue every time they get in their cars."
Related legislation: Currently there are three bills in the
legislative process that would direct a state agency to sponsor
a specialized license plate for a specific cause: AB 63
(Bonilla) to raise money for school safety, AB 270 (Nazarian) to
raise money for diabetes awareness, and AB 932 (Daly) to raise
money for local parks and recreation grant programs. All three
bills passed out of this Committee with no 'No' votes and are
currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Previous legislation: Since 2011, 12 bills have been introduced
directing a state agency to sponsor a specialized license plate
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for a variety of causes. Since 2014, four were passed by the
Legislature and signed by the Governor. These bills would raise
funds 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].
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Mental Health Peer-Run Organizations
County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California
Disability Rights California
Mental Health America of California
Opposition
None on file
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Analysis Prepared by:Justin Behrens / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093