BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 869
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 19, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   AB 869 (Davis) - As Amended:  January 12, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:13-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill provides the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) the 
          discretion to establish multiyear registration periods for fleet 
          vehicles, defined as 25 or more vehicles under common ownership.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          This bill has no direct state costs as it only provides DMV 
          discretionary authority to establish multiyear registration 
          periods for certain vehicles.  

          (It seems unlikely DMV would exercise the authority to establish 
          multiyear registration periods; doing so would entail 
          substantial costs, potentially in the hundreds of thousands of 
          dollars, mainly in the form of upfront computer programming 
          costs.  Multiyear registration periods also would likely 
          increase administrative complexity, and hence, costs.  For 
          example, several other state programs-such as Smog Check and the 
          vehicle license fee, on which local funding depends, are 
          coordinated to coincide with the annual vehicle registration 
          payment program.) 
           
          COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . The author contends certain fleet owners may 
            benefit, through decreased administrative costs and increased 
            convenience, from the ability to register vehicles less 
            frequently than currently authorized by law.

           2)Background.   Existing statute provides DMV discretion over 
            annual vehicle registration periods.  The department may 
            require registration following a period of seven months to 18 
            months.  The department and other state agencies manage the 






                                                                  AB 869
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            periodic vehicle registration fee in conjunction with other 
            state regulatory programs, such as Smog Check, the standards 
            of which vehicles must meet before DMV will accept 
            reregistration.

            Early in the Schwarzenegger administration, DMV considered 
            implementing a multiyear registration program.  According to 
            DMV, the idea was abandoned largely because the administration 
            judged it costly and administratively unwieldy.

           3)Support  .  This bill is supported by the California 
            Manufacturers and Technology Association. 

           4)There is no opposition formally registered to this bill.
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081