BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1815
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1815 (Emmerson) - As Amended: April 27, 2010
SUBJECT : Special interest license plates
SUMMARY : Allows the issuance of NASCAR license plates prior to
the receipt of 7,500 applications. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), on behalf of the
High Polluter Repair or Removal Account, to apply to the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor National
Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
driver-specialized license plates.
2)Requires DMV to issue, or cause to be issued, specialized
plates for that program, if BAR complies with all statutory
requirements.
3)Allows the NASCAR plates to bear emblems, seals, or other
symbols or designs displaying themes of professional stock car
auto racing, or professional stock car auto racing drivers.
4)Requires the design of the plates to be approved by DMV and
the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
5)Prohibits DMV from issuing NASCAR plates for a vehicle that is
exempt from the payment of registration fees.
6)Prohibits DMV from establishing this program until it has
received not less than 7,500 applications for NASCAR plates,
with BAR collecting and holding applications for the plates
and submitting them to DMV along with the necessary fees once
it has received at least 7,500 applications, to DMV. DMV would
not issue NASCAR plates until BAR had received and submitted
not less than 7,500 applications within six years.
7)Allows DMV and BAR to contract with third-party vendors or the
Prison Industry Authority for the manufacture, processing, and
distribution of NASCAR plates.
8)Requires DMV to cause to be issued any plate in this series
without a minimum number of applications for a specific
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design.
9)Provides that if, five years after the program has been
established, the number of outstanding and valid NASCAR plates
is less than 7,500, DMV must notify BAR and inform it that if
the number is less than 7,500 one year from the date of that
notification, DMV will no longer issue or replace any such
plates.
10)Allows any plates issued prior to the discontinuation of the
program under those circumstances to continue to be used and
attached to the vehicles for which they were issued and to be
renewed, retained, or transferred.
11)Establishes a $60 fee for the original issuance of NASCAR
plates and a $50 for the renewal of the plates.
12)Requires funds collected by DMV from the original sale of
NASCAR plates be distributed no less frequently than each
quarter annually, with $8 from each new plate going to DMV and
$52 to BAR's High Polluter Repair or Removal Account.
13)Provides that the funds from the renewal of each NASCAR plate
will be distributed with $8 going to DMV and $42 to BAR's High
Polluter Repair or Removal Account.
14)Specifies that this bill would not authorize BAR to contract
with third parties or otherwise take action to secure
licensing rights for emblems, seals, or other auto racing
symbols or designs displaying themes of professional stock car
auto racing, or professional stock car auto racing drivers, in
order to use those images on specialized license plates.
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
7,500 applications for that agency's specialized license
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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 special interest license plates to be expended
exclusively for projects and programs that promote that
agency's official policy, mission or work.
7)Establishes a repair assistance program for individuals who
have a maximum income level of 185% of the federal poverty
level and own a motor vehicle that has failed a smog check
inspection and for individuals who own a motor vehicle that
has failed a smog check inspection and are directed to a
test-only smog station.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Prior to 2007, any new special interest license plate
required specific legislative authorization. This practice was
held to be unconstitutional in that the Legislature approved
some of the plates, and rejected others, using no standardized
or objective criteria for those decisions. Subsequently, as a
result of AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 91, Statutes of 2006, an
administrative process has been established wherein DMV will
issue specialized license plates when they are sponsored by a
state agency, the plate's message and the revenues it generates
support that agency's program, and at least 7,500 paid
applications have been received. The 7,500-application
threshold was previously put into statute for special interest
license plates and was arrived at in an attempt to assure that
DMV's startup costs would be fully covered by the portion of the
registration fee surcharge that is directed to the department.
This bill would provide a separate process for the establishment
of a NASCAR plate, allowing the message on the plate to feature
a private organization, as opposed to the state agency or state
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program associated with the plate, which in this case is BAR and
its High Polluter Repair or Removal Program.
The sponsor of this bill points out that NASCAR plates have
recently been offered in nine other states, where they have been
proven to be extremely popular (certainly more so than a BAR
plate would be). In those states, the number of NASCAR plates
in circulation ranges from 3,600 to over 150 thousand. Based on
these rates of sales, even when the bill diverted a portion of
its generated revenue stream to NASCAR's charitable foundation,
it was estimated that a California NASCAR plate could be
expected to generate $1.5 million for the High Polluter Repair
or Removal Program in its first year and $1.1 million annually
thereafter. "If we consider that all government-sponsored
programs are suffering because of the current economic climate,
this is a wonderful opportunity to provide a new and continuing
funding source for this clean air program," says the sponsor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Race Plate Marketing, LLC
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093