BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 88
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: desaulnier
VERSION: 6/29/10
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: August 18, 2010
SUBJECT:
Firefighter license plates
DESCRIPTION:
This bill increases the fees charged to acquire firefighter
license plates.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law requires that in order to register a vehicle in
California, the registered owner pay a registration fee of $34,
a $22 surcharge for additional personnel for the California
Highway Patrol, various locally-imposed fees, and a vehicle
license fee (VLF) equal to 1.15% of a vehicle's value based on
purchase price depreciated according to a statutory schedule.
Existing law permits a current or retired California firefighter
to obtain special firefighter license plates for his or her
vehicle. The special plates contain the words "California
Firefighter" and require in addition to the above fees that the
vehicle owner must pay:
$35 for the initial issuance of the plates;
$20 annually for each renewal that includes continued
display of the plates;
$35 to replace the plates if they become damaged; and
$15 to transfer the plates to another firefighter-owned
vehicle.
Revenues derived from these fees go, after paying the Department
of Motor Vehicles' (DMV's) costs associated with firefighter
plates, to the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund, which
existing law allocates to the California Fire Foundation to:
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maintain and repair the California Firefighters' Memorial on
the grounds of the State Capitol;
hold ceremonies to honor the memory of fallen firefighters;
and
assist the spouses and children of fallen firefighters.
Upon the death of the firefighter, if the surviving spouse
requests the transfer either within 60 days of the death or upon
the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs
first, then DMV must transfer the firefighter license plates to
the surviving spouse. If no request is made, then the plates
must be returned to DMV.
This bill :
1.Makes findings and declarations about the importance of the
California Fire Foundation's work and the need for additional
funding derived from California firefighter license plates to
support the foundation's work.
2.Increases the additional fees for the original issuance of a
set of firefighter license plates from $35 to $50 and for the
annual renewal of registration for a vehicle with these plates
from $20 to $35.
3.Deletes the 60-day time limit for a surviving spouse of a
firefighter to request that DMV transfer the firefighter
license plates to him or her.
4.Authorizes a surviving member of the deceased firefighter's
family to keep one of the special license plates as an
heirloom, if there is no surviving spouse or upon death of the
surviving spouse. For this purpose, the bill defines "family"
as grandparents, stepgrandparents, parents, stepparents,
siblings, stepsiblings, children, and stepchildren.
5.Requires, upon the death of the surviving spouse, that the
firefighter license plates be either returned to DMV or
destroyed.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author notes that the state first launched the
firefighter license plate program over a decade ago, but the
SB 88 (DESAULNIER) Page 3
associated fees have not increased during that time. These
fees support the California Fire Foundation, a nonprofit
501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that the California
Professional Firefighters formed in 1987. The foundation
provides emergency assistance and support to families of
fallen firefighters, built and maintains the California
Firefighters Memorial in Capitol Park, and is involved in an
array of victim assistance and public education programs. The
author reports that over the past decade demand for the
services that the foundation renders has increased
dramatically.
This bill also eliminates the 60-day time limit for a
surviving spouse to request that DMV transfer a set of
firefighter license plates to his or her name. Given that a
surviving spouse's grieving process can often take months or
even years, the author argues that it is only appropriate that
the 60-day transfer window be eliminated to provide a grieving
spouse a reasonable amount of time to initiate the transfer.
Committee staff further notes that other transfer of other
special license plates, such as those for Purple Heart
recipients, include no similar time limit. This bill,
therefore, treats surviving spouses of firefighters in the
same manner as other groups of surviving spouses when it comes
to requesting the transfer of special license plates.
2.Concurrence hearing . When the Senate previously approved this
bill, it declared the Legislature's intent to enact statutory
changes needed to implement the 2009 Budget Act. Now that the
bill is back in the Senate for concurrence, the Senate Rules
Committee has referred the bill to this committee under Senate
Rule 29.10 in order for the committee to review the amendments
taken in the Assembly. For a concurrence hearing such as
this, the committee may only take one of two actions: 1) hold
the bill or 2) return the bill to the Senate Floor for
concurrence in Assembly amendments.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 72 - 0
Appr: 17 - 0
Trans: 12 - 0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Tuesday,
August 17, 2010)
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SUPPORT: California Professional Firefighters (sponsor)
OPPOSED: None received.