BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1550
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Date of Hearing: March 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1550 (Bonilla) - As Amended: March 12, 2012
SUBJECT : Veterans specialized license plates
SUMMARY : Increases the amount of fees for veteran's specialized
license plates and requires the California Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) to revise its vehicle registration forms to allow
for donations to the County Veterans' Service Officer (CVSO)
Fund. Specifically, this bill :
1)Increases the fee collected for the veterans' specialized
license plate as follows:
a) For initial issuance of the plates and decals, from $30
to $50;
b) For renewal of registration, from $30 to $40; and,
c) For personalization of plates, from $40 to $98.
2)Clarifies that the special interest license plate program
allows veterans' to apply for plates that indicate their
service as well as nonveterans to apply for plates that honor
veterans'. Allows the placement of decals upon the
specialized license plates that identifies veterans' serving
in a particular war or armed conflict, in the instance where
there is no official declaration of war.
3)Deletes the July 1, 2011 date for DMV to establish and
maintain the veterans' specialized license plate program on
its website.
4)Requires, by July 1, 2013, DMV to:
a) Add a checkbox to its registration forms for an original
or renewal of vehicle registration to allow individuals to
donate funds to the CVSO Fund;
b) Issue distinctive decals to applicants that recognize
their veteran status in, or honoring veterans of, a
particular war or armed conflict, as specified; and,
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c) In lieu of b) above, to make available to an applicant,
upon request, a "yellow ribbon/support our troops" decal.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes DMV, among other duties and responsibilities, to
register vehicles for operation or non-operation in the state.
2)Authorizes private organizations to participate in special
interest license plate programs in which the DMV issues
license plates with a participating organization's distinctive
design or decal.
3)Allows any veterans organization and any registered vehicle
owner to apply for a veterans' special interest license plate,
the proceeds of which are deposited into CVSO Fund, less the
DMV costs. Applicants for the specialized license plates pay
fees for issuance, renewal, or personalization that are
additional to those required for nonspecialized license
plates.
4)Requires money in the CVSO Fund to be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of
Veterans' Affairs for allocation and disbursement to counties
for the operation of CVSOs.
5)Requires DMV, by July 1, 2011, to maintain on its internet
website, a link to order online the special interest plates
issued for veterans'.
6)Allows the Department of Veterans' Affairs to modify the
distinctive designs of veterans' plates and the associated
decals but prohibits DMV from issuing the new plates or decals
until it has issued all existing inventories of plates and
decals.
FISCAL EFFECT : In calendar year 2011, the specialized veterans'
license plate program generated approximately $680,000 in
revenues. Undetermined costs, potentially significant and
non-reimbursable, to DMV for administering the new donations, in
addition to the other fees, to the CVSO Fund.
COMMENTS :
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Background : The CVSOs are local agencies established in 1946 to
assist veterans' and their families in obtaining benefits and
services accrued through military service. They act as the
California Department of Veterans' Affairs' network for claim
initiation and development. California has an agreement with
counties to pay 50% of the cost of the local CVSO operations.
CVSOs provide a valuable resource for California's large
population of veterans'. As the author states, "With offices in
54 of California's 58 counties, and employing over 250 local
government employees, the CVSOs represent a significant resource
to our veteran community. This significant human resource
represents a highly effective and low-cost solution to the
challenges of service delivery to California's large veterans'
community. Because CVSOs are located in communities statewide,
they are often the initial point of local contact for claimants
accessing the veterans' benefit system. Clients are also
referred to CVSOs by federal, state and service organization
personnel in recognition of their accessibility and acknowledged
expertise in the field of veterans' services? With nearly two
million veterans' and seven million dependents of veterans' in
California, CVSOs assist veteran families in obtaining federal
benefits, medical care, and counseling. CVSOs are funded with
both local and state funds and are located in all counties,
except for Sierra and Alpine."
Current law requires that, in order to register a vehicle in
California, the registered owner must pay a registration fee of
$46, a $23 surcharge for additional personnel for the California
Highway Patrol, various locally-imposed fees, and a vehicle
license fee equal to .65% of a vehicle's value based on purchase
price depreciated according to a statutory schedule.
In addition, for specialized veterans' license plates, a vehicle
owner must pay the following fees as appropriate:
1)$30 for the initial issuance of the plates and decals.
2)$30 annually for each renewal that includes continued display
of the plates and decals.
3)$15 for transfer of the plates to another vehicle.
4)$35 to replace the plates if they become damaged.
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5)$10 to replace the decals if they become damaged.
6)$40 to personalize the plates.
Purpose : The purpose of this bill is to increase revenues from
the veterans' organization specialized license plates and raise
funds for CVSOs. This bill would increase some of the related
fees as follows: the fee for initial plate issuance from $30 to
$50; the annual renewal fee from $30 to $40; and the plate
personalization fee from $40 to $98. It is the author's
contention that the increase in these fees will provide
additional funds to support the CVSOs that assist veterans' in
claiming their military and other social benefits. California
has an agreement with counties to pay 50% of the cost to operate
the CVSOs at the counties (currently up to $11 million). The
author further indicates that the fees for the specialized
veterans' license plates have not been updated since 1992 and by
aligning these fees with DMV's other specialized plates it will
augment the funding the state provides to the counties for its
share of CVSO costs.
Additionally, this bill provides an opportunity for individuals,
who may not desire a specialized veterans' license plate, to
support veterans' by donating funds, in any amount, to the CVSO
Fund. Lastly, the bill authorizes the license plates to include
decals or stickers that identify various military and veterans'
organizations representing a particular war or armed conflict.
Supporters of this bill contend that these new stickers allow
purchasers the ability to specify which veterans' group they are
honoring by the conflict the veteran served in. It is their
belief that this should result in much higher sales than the
original stickers that had limited appeal.
Veteran unit decals : When the original specialized veterans'
license plate program was established, over 100 different
stickers were approved. The supporters of this bill indicate
that "Most of the decals were for small size units because, at
the time, if was felt that the over two million veterans would
like a "unit" sticker. However, that has not been the case.
Because of the limited appeal of these stickers, only 26,000
veterans' plates have been sold. Many of these designs have not
even sold one sticker. These unit stickers also have not
changed or been added to since the end of the Vietnam War.
Hopefully, these new stickers will have broader appeal to
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veterans' and encompass stickers from recent and ongoing wars."
Committee concerns : This bill requires DMV, by July 1, 2013, to
add a checkbox to its vehicle registration forms for an original
or renewal of vehicle registration to allow individuals to
donate funds to the CVSO Fund. It is the author's intent that
the bill provides an opportunity for individuals, who may not
desire a veteran's plate, to support veterans' by donating any
amount they wish to the fund. Further, the funds will support
CVSO social service programs as well as expand their services to
all veterans' and their families, specifically for veterans'
arriving from Iraq.
The burden placed upon DMV to account and administer the
donations from applicants for disbursement to the CVSO Fund
could be potentially excessive. Further, it is questionable
whether the DMV costs would be fully reimbursable. Lastly, this
mandate would detract from DMV's mission critical
responsibilities as well as affect ongoing computer programming
efforts. Accordingly, the committee suggests that the
requirement for the inclusion of a checkbox for potential donors
be deleted from the bill. The author has agreed to this
suggestion to remove the requirements that impose new
responsibilities upon DMV.
Suggested committee amendments : In addition to the committee's
suggestion in the prior section above, there are two other
suggestions offered by the committee and accepted by the author
as follows:
1)Correct a drafting error that will remove references to
applicants for environmental specialty license plates.
Additionally, the amendment will serve to clarify that any
person (a non-veteran) is eligible to apply for a veterans'
specialty license plate upon registration of their vehicle.
2)Delete the requirement in existing law that requires the
supply of decals to be used up before any new decals could be
issued. Supporters of this bill contend that new decals and
stickers are necessary to get more program activity.
Previous legislation : AB 1908 (Cook), Chapter 166, Statutes of
2010, authorizes the Department of Veterans' Affairs to modify
the distinctive designs of veterans' plates and the associated
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decals but prohibits DMV from issuing the new plates or decals
until it has issued all existing inventories of plates and
decals.
SB 419 (Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee), Chapter 183,
Statutes of 2009, declares that California's 50% share for
administering the CVSOs is approximately $11,000,000.
AB 3033 (Conroy), Chapter 1275, Statutes of 1992, creates the
special interest license plate program for veterans'.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Dept. of CA
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California Mental Health Directors Association
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Vietnam Veterans of America, CA State Council
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093