BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 773
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
773 (Allen)
As Amended June 15, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 40-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Transportation |15-0 |Frazier, Linder, | |
| | |Baker, Bloom, Brown, | |
| | |Chu, Daly, Dodd, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Kim, Medina, | |
| | |Melendez, Nazarian, | |
| | |O'Donnell | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
SB 773
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| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood, | |
| | |McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requests the University of California (UC) to conduct
a study on motor vehicle registration fraud. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding vehicle
registration fraud and the negative impacts associated with
vehicle registration fraud.
2)Provides that the study is to include, but not be limited to,
identifying the magnitude of vehicle registration fraud,
methods used by motorist to commit vehicle registration fraud,
and the cost to the state and local governments in lost
revenues, effects on air pollution, and recommended strategies
for increasing compliance with registration requirements.
3)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to enter into
an agreement with UC to share vehicle registration
information.
4)Requires the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
to share information related to efforts to combat registration
fraud, including the California Help Eliminate All the Evasive
Registration Scofflaws (CHEATERS) program.
5)Requests UC to complete and post the study on its Web site no
later than January 1, 2018.
6)Requires DMV to post on its Internet Web site detailed
instructions for motorists that describe how to prevent theft
of vehicle registration tabs.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Prohibits a person from driving, moving, or parking a motor
vehicle on the highway or in a public parking facility unless
it is registered with DMV.
2)Requires that a registration fee of $43 be paid to DMV for an
initial vehicle registration or registration renewal to fund
the operations of DMV and CHP.
3)Requires an owner to register their vehicle within 20 days of
accepting employment or establishing residency in California.
4)Establishes the Motor Vehicle Inspection Program, commonly
referred to as the Smog Check Program, and requires vehicle
owners to have their vehicles tested every two years.
5)Establishes the CHEATERS program, administered by CHP,
allowing a person who identifies an out-of-state license plate
to anonymously report to the vehicle to CHP.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
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 extents to which the study could be
incorporated into existing research efforts and to which
multiple campuses would be involved in the study.
2)Costs for DMV to provide vehicle registration records and to
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post the required information on its Web site would be minor
and absorbable. Costs for the CHP to provide information on
registration fraud efforts would also be minor and absorbable.
3)To the extent the study would lead to cost effective means of
reducing vehicle registration fraud, the state and local
governments could realize 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 California in
2014.)
COMMENTS: Vehicle registration fraud continues to be a
significant public policy issue for states across the country.
Several states have attempted to crack down on registration
fraud to avoid higher government fees and insurance premiums.
For example, the Iowa Department of Transportation recently
canceled more than 450 vehicle titles and registrations obtained
using false or fictitious information and operating in New York
City. Similarly, in California in 2014, using information
provided through the CHEATERS hotline, CHP carried out an
enforcement campaign targeting drivers with out-of-state license
plates or expired license plate tags. Through this campaign,
the state was ultimately able to collect $1.9 million in unpaid
registration fees.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the sponsor of
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. Although some studies have indicated the number of
unregistered vehicles operating in state is somewhere between
1%-8%, no official data on this topic exists. As a result, the
lack of accurate data impedes the state's ability to assess the
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negative impacts associated with this illegal activity on air
quality, state and local government revenues, and insurance
premiums.
With this bill, the author intends to gather data on the scope
and magnitude of vehicle registration fraud and the number
operating unregistered vehicles within the state. In turn, the
study will develop effective policy recommendations that will
potentially lead to recouping millions of dollars in lost
revenue that can be used for vital services such as CHP
enforcement, removing abandoned vehicles, and transportation
projects.
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Justin Behrens / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0004029