BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1815
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Date of Hearing: May 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1815 (Emmerson) - As Amended: April 27, 2010
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:10-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes DMV to issue Bureau of Automotive Repair
sponsored NASCAR license plates. Specifically, the bill:
1)Authorizes the bureau to apply to the DMV to sponsor a program
for a series of specialized NASCAR license plants that bear
emblems, seals, or other symbols displaying themes of
professional stock car auto racing.
2)Requires the DMV to issue the specialized plates if the bureau
complies with existing requirements applicable to special
license plate programs.
3)Requires that the design of each specialty plate be approved
by the DMV and California Highway Patrol.
4)Specifies that the original issuance fee shall be $60, of
which $52 goes to the Bureau of Automotive Repair's High
Polluter Repair or Removal Account, and $8 would be retained
by the DMV to cover administrative costs.
5)Specifies that the renewal fee shall be $50, of which $42
would go to the High Polluter Repair or Removal Account, and
the balance to the DMV.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)DMV costs fully covered by issuance fee.
2)Unknown annual revenues, potentially in the range of $500,000,
for the high polluter/repair program.
AB 1815
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3)Unknown, potentially substantial legal liability to the state
for using NASCAR symbols without just compensation.
COMMENTS
1)Background - state agency sponsored license plates . Existing
law allows any state agency to apply to DMV to sponsor a
specialized license plate program. Prior to 2007, any new
special interest license plate required specific legislative
authorization. This practice was held to be unconstitutional
because the Legislature approved some of the plates, and
rejected others, using no standardized or objective criteria
for those decisions. AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 91/2006
established an administrative process within DMV for issuing
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 put in place to ensure that DMV's startup costs
would be fully covered by the portion of the registration fee
surcharge that is directed to the department.
In contrast to other agency-sponsored specialized license
plates, the NASCAR plates would feature a private
organization, as opposed to the state agency or state program
associated with the plate (in this case, the Bureau of
Automotive Repair).
2)Background - high polluter repair or removal program . This is
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. The
program provides up to $500 in assistance for repairs and up
to $1,000 for removal of cars that have failed smog checks.
3)Rationale. This bill is intended to utilize a popular plate
design to leverage fees to support the high polluter program.
The sponsor (Race Plate Marketing, LLC) asserts that the
NASCAR plates have been offered in nine other states, and have
proven to be extremely popular.
4)Fiscal Concern . Other states have entered into agreements with
the NASCAR foundation involving royalties or some other form
AB 1815
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of compensation for the use of the NASCAR symbols on state
issued plates. The original version of this bill provided
that one-half of original issue fees, and one-third renewal
fees, would be allocated to the NASCAR Foundation, but the
current version eliminates NASCAR's share, and prohibits the
state from securing licensing rights for racing emblems. If
the state were to issue NASCAR plates without securing a
licensing agreement, it would be subject to a lawsuit.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081