BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1944
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1944 (Fletcher) - As Introduced: February 17, 2010
SUBJECT : Disabled veterans license plates
SUMMARY : Enacts separate procedures for the review of
applications for disabled veterans license plates.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals requirements for applicants for disabled license
plates to submit documentation from specified medical
professionals substantiating their disabilities.
2)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), upon
application and without additional fees, to issue special
license plates to a disabled veteran, or an organization, or
agency involved in the transportation of disabled veterans, if
the vehicle that will have the special license plates is used
solely for the purpose of transporting those persons.
3)Requires the plates to run in a regular numerical series that
includes one or more unique two-letter codes reserved for
disabled veteran license plates. The International Symbol of
Access ("wheelchair symbol") is required to be depicted on
each plate.
4)Requires DMV, prior to issuing plates to an applicant, to
require certification from the Department of Veterans Affairs
(DVA) that the disabled veteran has a service-connected
disability.
5)Requires DVA to retain information sufficient to substantiate
the disabled veteran's certificate and, upon request of DMV,
to make that information available for inspection by the
Medical Board of California or the appropriate regulatory
board.
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6)Requires a disabled veteran issued plates under these
provisions to, upon request, present to a peace officer, or
person authorized to enforce parking laws, ordinances, or
regulations, the certification that substantiates the
eligibility of the disabled veteran to possess the plate or
plates.
7)Requires such certification to be on a form prescribed by DMV
and to contain the name of the disabled veteran to whom the
plates were issued, and the name, office address, and
telephone number of the person from the DVA who certified the
eligibility of the veteran for the plate or plates.
8)Exempts organizations and agencies that transport veterans
from the above certification requirements.
9)Requires special license plates, upon the death of the
disabled veteran, be returned to DMV within 60 days or upon
the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs
first.
10)Requires organizations and agencies that transport veterans
in vehicles displaying these special license plates to return
the plates immediately to DMV upon sale or transfer of any
such vehicle.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines a disabled person as someone who suffers from one of a
specified list of disabilities regarding their extremities,
vision, respiratory ability, or cardiovascular function.
2)Defines a disabled veteran as someone who, as a result of
their military service, has a 100% disability rating from DVA,
is unable to move without the aid of an assistant device, has
lost use of one or more limbs, or has suffered permanent
blindness.
3)Authorizes the issuance of special license plates to disabled
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persons and disabled veterans whose disabilities are readily
observable and uncontested or who submit certification to DMV
from specified medical professionals that substantiates their
disability.
4)Makes it unlawful for any person to park or leave standing any
vehicle in a stall or space designated for disabled persons
and disabled veterans unless the vehicle displays either a
special identification license plate or a distinguishing
placard.
5)Allows a disabled person or disabled veteran displaying
special license plates or a distinguishing placard to park for
unlimited periods in specified restricted zones, on streets
upon which preferential parking privileges and height limits
that have been granted by local authorities, or in any parking
zone that is restricted as to the length of time parking is
permitted as indicated by a sign erected pursuant to a local
ordinance.
6)Allows a disabled person or disabled veteran displaying
special license plates or a distinguishing placard to park in
any metered parking space without being required to pay
parking meter fees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The author notes that although the criteria for the
being classified as a disabled veteran, as opposed to a disabled
person, are substantially different, in each instance the
applicant for special license plates must submit to DMV the same
type of verification from a medical professional. "Treating the
qualifications for these different plates as the same limits the
ability of veterans who have the right to qualify for the plates
and benefits." This bill would set out a separate and distinct
process for applicants for disabled veteran's plates, such that
DVA would be asked to verify the applicant's service-connected
disability and would retain the substantiating information.
This bill, he asserts, "will make sure to protect the right of
disabled veterans to access the disabled veteran's license
plates and the privileges that go with it."
Technical concern: According to DMV, this bill appears
inadvertently to repeal the registration and vehicle license fee
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exemptions currently enjoyed by the owners of vehicles that
transport disabled veterans. There are several ways this
problem might be resolved. In that there are the inevitable DMV
data processing issues involved, the author may wish to work
with DMV to craft amendments that restore these fee exemptions
in a manner that does not cause an undue burden for DMV in
administering its provisions.
Double referral : This bill is also referred to the Committee on
Veterans Affairs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None received
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093