BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1550 (Bonilla) - Veterans' organization license plates: fees.
Amended: May 14, 2012 Policy Vote: T&H 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 25, 2012
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1550 would increase the fees for the issuance,
renewal, and personalization of veterans special interest
license plates, and provide for the issuance of new decals for
veterans plates that are associated with a particular war or
armed conflict, and a new "yellow ribbon/support our troops"
decal.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time costs of approximately $60,000 to the Department
of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to make programming and
administrative changes related to the fee increase, and to
update its website to reflect the availability of additional
veterans license plate decals. All costs fully recovered
from veterans license plate fees.
Fee revenue gain of approximately $290,000 annually
(Veterans Service Office Fund) if all current holders of
veterans plates renew their registrations and pay the
increased renewal fee. Additional revenue impacts would
depend upon demand for issuance of new veterans plates and
the potential deterrent effect related to the higher fees,
both of which are indeterminable.
Unknown fee revenue gain related to the increase in fees
for the personalization of veterans plates, potentially in
the range of $50,000 annually (Veterans Service Office
Fund). See staff comments.
Background: Existing law requires that, in order to register a
vehicle in California, the registered owner pay a registration
fee of $46, a $23 surcharge for additional personnel for the
California Highway Patrol, various locally-imposed fees, and a
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specified vehicle license fee based upon the value of the
vehicle. A vehicle owner may pay additional fees of $48 for
issuance and $38 for renewal to personalize the characters on
his or her vehicle's license plates.
Existing law also authorizes any registered vehicle owner to
apply to DMV for veterans' organization license plates.
Veterans' organizations plates bear a distinctive design that
includes the words "honoring veterans" along the bottom of the
plate and a decal on the left side of the plate for one of over
100 sponsoring veterans' organizations, such as the American
Legion, 101st Airborne Division, or the National Guard. In
addition to standard registration fees, a vehicle owner must pay
the following fees related to veterans plates: $30 for the
initial issuance of the plates and decals; $40 to personalize
the plates; and $30 annually for each renewal that includes
continued display of the plates (whether personalized or not)
and decals. Revenue derived from the veterans plates, less
costs incurred by DMV in administering the program, is deposited
into the Veterans Service Office Fund for distribution to county
veterans service offices (CVSOs) by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Proposed Law: AB 1550 would increase the following fees for
veterans' specialized license plates:
Fees for initial issuance of the plates and decals would
increase from $30 to $50.
Fees for renewal of registration that includes continued
display of the plates or decals would increase from $30 to
$40.
Fees for the personalization of the plates would
increase from $40 to $78.
This bill would also:
Authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a
distinctive design of veterans plates and the associated
decals to honor all veterans or veterans who served in a
particular war or armed conflict.
Authorize any vehicle owner to apply to DMV for veterans
plates with a decal that honors all veterans or veterans
who served in a particular war or armed conflict.
Authorize a veteran to apply for a veterans plate decal
that indicates his or her service in a particular war or
armed conflict.
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Require DMV, by July 1, 2013, to offer a distinctive
decal to any applicant for veterans plates that recognizes
his or her veteran status in, or honoring veterans of, a
particular war or armed conflict. In lieu of such a decal,
DMV must offer a "yellow ribbon/support our troops decal"
to applicants for veterans plates.
Delete the requirement in existing law that DMV issue
all inventories of existing decals prior to issuing a new
decal design.
Related Legislation: AB 1908 (Cook) Chap 166/2010, authorized
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. As a
result of this bill, the design for veterans' organization
plates was modified to change the text at the bottom of the
plate from "veteran" to "honoring veterans" to increase demand
for the plate.
SB 419 (Senate Veterans Affairs Committee) Chap 183/2009,
revised codified legislative findings and declarations to
specify that 50 percent of the amount annually budgeted for
county veteran service officers is approximately $11,000,000.
Staff Comments: AB 1550 is intended to increase revenues for
county veterans service offices (CVSOs) that are generated from
the issuance, renewal, and personalization of veterans'
organization special interest license plates. The fees for
these plates have not been adjusted since the original
legislation authorizing the issuance of veterans plates was
enacted in 1992. This bill would make the fees for veterans
plates consistent with the fees charged for other specialized
license plates.
DMV indicates that as of May, 2012 there are 28,951 sets of
veterans' organization plates issued to registered vehicles. In
the 2011 calendar year, DMV incurred $105,584 in costs to
administer this specialized license plate program, which was
fully covered by fees collected, and deposited the remaining
$667,281 in veterans license plate fee revenue into the Veterans
Service Office Fund.
Assuming all of the current holders of veterans plates renew
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their registrations, the increased renewal fees would generate
approximately $290,000 in new revenue for CVSOs. Additional
revenue impacts would depend upon demand for new registrations,
and the potential deterrent effect of the increased fees,
neither of which can be determined at this time. DMV does not
anticipate a significant impact on revenues related to the
issuance of new decals honoring veterans of a particular war or
armed conflict. The number of current personalized veterans
plates is unknown. If five percent of the current veterans
plate holders paid the additional fees associated with
personalization of the plates, there would be an additional
revenue increase of approximately $55,000 annually.
Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends an amendment to delete
provisions on page 3, lines 4-6 that would allow any veteran to
apply for a special interest license plate with a decal
indicating his or her service in a particular war or armed
conflict. This would avoid any implication that DMV would be
required to verify veteran status of any individual applicant,
as well as any potential costs associated with that implied
duty. The bill would still clearly state that any registered
owner may apply for a plate with a decal that honors all
veterans or veterans who served in a particular war or armed
conflict.