BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2068
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2068 (Portantino) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Vehicles: license plates: legislative and
congressional members
SUMMARY : Increases fees for distinctive legislative and
congressional member license plates. Specifically, this bill :
1) Increases the fee for legislative and congressional
member license plates from $12 to $48.
2) Increases the transfer fee for legislative and
congressional member license plates from $10 to $38.
3) Adds a $38 annual renewal fee for legislative and
congressional member license plates.
4) Adds a $38 fee for a duplicate legislative and
congressional member license plate.
5) Specifies that additional fees received by the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for special legislative
and congressional member license plates are to be deposited
into the Motor Vehicle Account.
EXISTING LAW :
1) Requires the California DMV, upon registering a vehicle,
to issue the owner two license plates to identify the
vehicle.
2) Authorizes DMV to issue distinctive license plates to
current or former members of the California Legislature or
United States Congress.
3) Specifies that, in addition to regular fees for the
original registration or renewal, fees for the distinctive
plates include $12 for initial issuance of the special
plate and $10 for the transfer of the plate to another
vehicle.
AB 2068
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4) Authorizes DMV to issue a variety of other license
plates.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : DMV began issuing distinctive license plates for
legislative or congressional members in 1978. These license
plates denote that the person is or was a member of the
California Legislature or member of the United States Congress.
Fees for these license plates, in addition to regular
registration fees, are set at $12 for the initial issuance of
the license plate and $10 to transfer the license plate to
another vehicle.
DMV issues a whole host of license plates, including:
1)Special license plates (e.g., amateur radio station, Gold Star
Family, Congressional Medal of Honor, press photographer,
horseless carriage, and Pearl Harbor survivor, among others);
2)Special interest license plates (e.g., environmental,
memorial, Arts Council, Coastal Commission, firefighters, and
Yosemite Foundation, among others); and,
3)Personalized license plates.
According to DMV, direct and administrative costs for
legislative and congressional member license plates is $6.00 to
produce the plate and between $18 and $20 for related
administrative processing.
The author argues that the statutorily prescribed fees for these
legislative and congressional member license plates are not
sufficient to cover DMV's direct costs. He has introduced AB
2068 to increase the fees for legislative or congressional
member license plates so that DMV's costs are fully recovered.
The increased fee rates prescribed in this bill mirror those set
forth for special interest license plates. It is important to
note that, for special interest license plates, a portion of the
fees collected supports the particular special interest, for
example, the Yosemite Foundation.
This bill will generate monies from legislative and
congressional member license plates over and above DMV's direct
AB 2068
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costs. These additional funds will be directed into the Motor
Vehicle Account. It is not clear what the author's intent is,
if any, regarding the additional revenue that would be generated
as this bill provides no further parameters governing the use of
this money.
Recent legislation:
AB 11 4X (Evans) Chapter 11, Statutes of 2008, among other
things, raised the voluntary Environmental License Plate Fund
(ELP) fee by $8 per plate (to $48 for new plates and $38 for
renewals). This fee increase generated approximately $3 million
in revenues annually and was used to off-set cuts in the state's
resources departments.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None received
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093