BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 773
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 773
(Allen) - As Amended June 15, 2016
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|Policy |Transportation |Vote:|15 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requests the University of California (UC) to conduct
a study on motor vehicle registration fraud and post the results
on its website by January 1, 2018. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requests that UC conduct the study to identify the magnitude
of vehicle registration fraud, methods used to commit vehicle
registration fraud, the estimated loss of revenue to the state
and local governments, effects on air pollution, and
recommended strategies for increasing compliance with
registration requirements.
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2)Requires the DMV to enter into an agreement with UC to share
vehicle registration information and to post on its website
instructions for motorists on how to prevent theft of vehicle
registration tabs.
3)Requires the CHP to share information related to efforts to
combat registration fraud, including the California Help
Eliminate All the Evasive Registration Scofflaws (CHEATERS)
program.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)One-time costs to UC, ranging from minor to the low hundreds
of thousands of dollars in the 2017. Costs would vary
depending on the extent to which the study could be
incorporated into existing research efforts and the extent to
which multiple campuses would be involved in the study.
2)Costs for DMV to provide vehicle registration records and to
post the required information on its website would be minor
and absorbable. Costs for the CHP to provide information on
registration fraud efforts would also be minor and absorbable.
[Motor Vehicle Account]
3)To the extent the study would lead to cost effective means of
reducing vehicle registration fraud, the state and local
governments could realize significant increased revenues.
Based on average total registration fees, for every 100,000
vehicles avoiding such fees, the revenue loss totals about $17
million. (About 33 million vehicles were registered in
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California in 2014.)
COMMENTS:
Background and Purpose. Vehicle registration fraud continues to
be a significant public policy issue for states across the
country. In California, the CHEATERS program allows a person
who identifies an out-of-state license plate to anonymously
report to the vehicle to CHP. In 2014, using information
provided through the CHEATERS hotline, CHP carried out an
enforcement campaign, which targeted drivers with out-of-state
license plates or expired license plate tags lead to collection
of $1.9 million in unpaid registration fees. Despite such
efforts, the state lacks adequate data to determine the methods
and magnitude of vehicle registration fraud within the state.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which is
sponsoring this bill, notes that in addition to out-of-state
vehicle fraud, motorists fail to register their vehicle or fail
to renew registration because their vehicle cannot pass smog
testing, resulting in unknown but likely deleterious effects on
air quality.
The author intends to allow the state to gather data on the
scope and magnitude of vehicle registration fraud and the number
of unregistered vehicles operating within the state, along with
recommendations to combat this problem.
SB 773
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Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081