BILL NUMBER: AB 2303 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Holden
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gatto)
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to add Sections 5004.4 and 5076
Section 5170 to the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2303, as amended, Holden. Vehicles: specialized license plates.
Existing law requires authorizes a state
agency to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
to establish a California Legacy License Plate Program
that creates a series of sponsor a specialized
license plates that replicate plates from the state's past.
Existing law also requires the department to issue various other
special-interest license plates sponsored by nonprofit organizations,
as specified. plate program, and requires the DMV to
issue those license plates if the sponsoring state agency meets
certain requirements. Existing law requires the DMV to charge
specified fees related to the issuance of those plates and to deposit
the fees, less the DMV's costs, in the Specialized License Plate
Fund. Existing law requires that moneys in the fund be allocated,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the sponsoring agency in
proportion to the amount that is attributable to the agency's
specialized license plate program. Existing law authorizes the
sponsoring agency to use these moneys to fund projects an
d programs that promote the state agency's official policy, mission,
or work. Existing law also establishes the Active
Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation for the
purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of
transportation, such as biking and walking.
This bill would require the department, if 7,500
applications are received before January 1, 2019, to add a specified
license plate design utilized by the department between 1982 and 1987
to the California Legacy License Plate Program. The bill would also
require the department, in consultation with the California Bicycle
Coalition, Inc., to make available for issuance bicycle awareness
license plates if certain conditions are satisfied.
the Department of Transportation to apply to the DMV, as specified,
to sponsor a bicycle pathway license plate program, and would require
the DMV to issue specialized license plates for that program if the
Department of Transportation satisfies certain requirements.
Notwithstanding the above-described provisions regarding fees for
specialized plates, the bill would require the additional fees for
the issuance, renewal, or transfer of these specialized license
plates to be deposited, after the DMV deducts its administrative
costs, in the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund,
to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for the
purpose of funding the Active Transportation Program.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Twenty-one million adults walked for fun, exercise, or
transportation and 2,970,000 youth walked, biked, or skated from
school one or more times a week.
(b) There are 9,863 licensed professional cyclists who live in
California, which is 16 percent of the national total and more than
any other state.
(c) Death rates for California bicyclists and pedestrians are much
higher than in the United States as a whole.
(d) The Active Transportation Program has had more project
applications submitted than available funding every year since it was
formed in 2013.
(e) The Legacy License Plate Program has been well-received with
the 1960s' Vintage Plate entering production in 2015.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to further support bikeway
planning-related activities through the Active Transportation
Program.
(g) The Legislature further intends to initiate a statewide
program to raise bicycle awareness.
SEC. 2. Section 5004.4 is added to the Vehicle
Code, to read:
5004.4. (a) Subject to subdivision (c), the department shall add
to the California Legacy License Plate Program, authorized pursuant
to Section 5004.3, the license plate design utilized by the
department between 1982 and 1987 that featured blue, orange, and red
lettering, a white background, the phrase "Golden State" and a sunset
design.
(b) An applicant for the specialized license plates described in
subdivision (a), who shall be the owner or lessee of the vehicle on
which the plates will be displayed, may choose to either accept a
license plate character sequence assigned by the department or
request a combination of letters or numbers, or both.
(c) In addition to the regular fees for an original registration
or renewal of registration, the following additional fees shall be
paid for the issuance, renewal, retention, or transfer of the
specialized license plates:
(1) Fifty dollars ($50) for the original issuance of the plates.
(2) Forty dollars ($40) for a renewal of registration with the
plates.
(3) Fifteen dollars ($15) for transfer of the plates to another
vehicle.
(4) Thirty-five dollars ($35) for each substitute replacement
plate.
(5) Thirty-eight dollars ($38), when the payment of renewal fees
is not required as specified in Section 4000 and the holder of the
specialized license plates retains the plates. The fee shall be due
at the expiration of the registration year of the vehicle to which
the specialized license plates were assigned. This paragraph shall
not apply when a plate character sequence is assigned by the
department pursuant to subdivision (b).
(d) The department shall not issue California Legacy License
Plates for a vehicle that is exempt from the payment of registration
fees pursuant to Section 9101 or 9103.
(e) (1) The department shall not add the license plate authorized
by subdivision (a) until the department has received not less than
7,500 paid applications for plates. The department shall collect and
hold applications for the plates. The department shall not issue the
specialized plate authorized by subdivision (a) until it has received
not less than 7,500 paid applications for plates within the time
period prescribed in paragraph (2).
(2) The department shall have until January 1, 2019, to receive
the required number of applications. If, after that date, 7,500 paid
applications have not been received for the plate described in
subdivision (a), the department shall immediately refund to all
applicants all fees or deposits that have been collected.
(f) (1) Upon determination by the department that there are
sufficient funds for the program, moneys gathered pursuant to this
section shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
the department for the necessary administrative costs incurred
pursuant to this section.
(2) After deducting its administrative costs pursuant to paragraph
(1), the department shall deposit any additional revenue derived
from the issuance, renewal, retention, transfer, and substitution of
the specialized license plates into the State Highway Account in the
State Transportation Fund, to be available upon appropriation by the
Legislature for the purpose of funding active transportation
planning.
SEC. 3. Section 5076 is added to the Vehicle
Code, to read:
5076. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Bicycle Awareness License Plate Act.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 5060.1, the department, in
consultation with the California Bicycle Coalition, Inc., shall make
available for issuance pursuant to this article bicycle awareness
license plates if the requirements of this article are satisfied.
(c) In addition to the regular fees for an original registration
or renewal of registration, the following additional fees shall be
paid for the issuance, transfer, or renewal of the bicycle awareness
license plates:
(1) For the original issuance of the plates, fifty dollars ($50).
(2) For a renewal of registration of the plates, forty dollars
($40).
(3) For the transfer of the special plates to another vehicle,
fifteen dollars ($15).
(d) All fees collected under this section, after deduction of the
department's costs in administering this section, shall be deposited
in the California Bicycle Coalition Fund, which is hereby established
in the General Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
funds shall be allocated to the California Bicycle Coalition, Inc.,
to establish a statewide program to raise bicycle awareness, which
shall include, but not be limited to, state and local educational
activities promoting safety for bicyclists, pedestrians, and
motorists.
SEC. 2. Section 5170 is added to the
Vehicle Code , immediately following Section 5168
, to read:
5170. (a) The Department of Transportation shall apply to the
department, pursuant to Section 5156, to sponsor a bicycle pathway
license plate program. The department shall issue specialized license
plates for that program if the Department of Transportation complies
with the requirements of Section 5156.
(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 issued pursuant to
this section shall be deposited, after the department deducts its
administrative costs, in the State Highway Account in the State
Transportation Fund, to be available upon appropriation by the
Legislature for the purpose of funding the Active Transportation
Program established pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section
2380) of Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code.