BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2068
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2068 (Portantino) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:12-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill increases fees for legislative and congressional
member license plates. Specifically, this bill:
1)Increases, from $12 to $48, the fee for issuance of
legislative and congressional license plates.
2)Increases, from $10 to $38, the fee transfer such plates.
3)Establishes a $38 annual renewal fee for such plates.
4)Establishes a $38 fee for requests for duplicates of such
plates.
5)Directs revenue generated by the fee increases and additions
included in this bill be deposited in the Motor Vehicle
Account (MVA).
FISCAL EFFECT
Additional annual revenue of an unknown but likely insignificant
amount, probably less than $30,000, to the MVA, which supports
the administrative work of the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) and the California Highway Patrol.
(While the amount of revenue generated by the fee increases and
additions included in this bill will be negligible, it will
nonetheless be in excess of the costs to the DMV to issue,
transfer, renew and duplicate the plates.)
COMMENTS
AB 2068
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1)Rationale. The author contends the current fees for
legislative and congressional member license plates do not
cover DMV's costs to administer the plate program and that
they should be increased to do so. In addition, as recently
reported in several news outlets, the author asserts that
current pricing of legislative license plates represents
special treatment for legislators, to which the author
objects.
2)Overshooting the Mark. The author's staff indicates the
author intends to ensure DMV fees for issuing and tracking
legislative and congressional member plates cover DMV's
administrative costs. However, the fees increased and
established by the bill would result in revenue in excess of
DMV's costs.
The author contends "It makes no sense for former and sitting
legislators to be treated any differently than everyone else."
The fees upon which the bill seems to model itself are those
voluntarily paid by California vehicle owners to register,
renew, transfer and duplicate certain personalized license
plates. Those fees are set, deliberately, at an amount that
will generate revenue in excess of DMV's administrative costs
in order to fund other programs. For example, the
Environmental License Plate (ELP) Fund includes an issuance
fee of $48 and a renewal fee of $38. The ELP program raised
approximately $3 million in excess of DMV's costs, an amount
required by statute to be used to offset budget reductions to
the state's natural resources and environmental protection
programs. The fees in this bill, like those for the ELP
program, will raise fee revenue in excess of DMV's
administrative costs, though of a minor amount. (DMV reports
there to be approximately 750 legislative and congressional
license plates in issuance.)
If the author's goal is to be sure DMV costs are covered, it
would be sufficient to simply increase the fee for issuance of
legislative and congressional plates from $12 to $18.
According to technical information provided by DMV, such a fee
would cover DMV's administrative costs to issue the plates, as
well as the minor, incidental costs it incurs when renewing,
transferring or duplicating such plates.
3)There is neither support nor opposition formally registered
AB 2068
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for or against this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081