BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2068
Author: Portantino (D), et al.
Amended: 6/26/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 8-1, 6/19/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Rubio, Simitian, Wyland
NOES: Kehoe
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-0, 5/25/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : License plates: legislators and members of
Congress
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill increases the fees that a current or
retired legislator or a member of Congress must pay in
order to have special license plates for his/her vehicle
denoting that status.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a basic vehicle
registration fee of $46, plus a $23 surcharge for
additional personnel for the California Highway Patrol
(CHP). A vehicle owner may request an environmental
license plate (ELP) when registering his/her vehicle. An
ELP is a personalized license plate (sometimes referred to
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AB 2068
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as a "vanity plate") that Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) issues in a combination of letters, or numbers, or
both, that the vehicle owner selects.
ELP fees are $48 for issuance of the plate, $38 for
renewal, $38 for duplicate plates, and $38 for transfer.
Existing law provides that revenue derived from these fees
shall be deposited in the California Environmental License
Plate Fund (ELP Fund). Initially authorized in 1979, the
ELP Fund supports a variety of state activities that have
some environmental connection.
In addition, since 1979, a registered owner of a vehicle
who is a current or retired member of the California
Legislature or who is a current member of Congress may
apply to the DMV for special license plates for his/her
vehicle that denote this status. The current or retired
legislator or the member of Congress must pay $12 for
issuance and $10 to move these plates to another vehicle.
Existing law does not impose an additional annual renewal
fee for these plates. Revenues from these license plates
accrue to the Motor Vehicle Account, which funds DMV and
CHP.
This bill increases the fees for issuance, renewal, and
transfer to match the fees charged for personalized license
plates. Thus, a current or retired legislator or current
member of Congress will pay $48 for issuance, $38 for
annual renewal, and $38 for transfer to another vehicle of
these plates. Requires DMV, after deducting their cost for
administrating this program, deposit all fees related to
this bill in the ELP Fund instead of the Motor Vehicle
Account.
Comments
Purpose . The author introduced this bill because the
current fees for legislative and congressional license
plates are not sufficient to cover the administrative and
other costs of the license plates. He chose the amounts in
this bill to equal those that the general public pays to
personalize license plates under the state's ELP program.
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Other specialized plates . Over the years, legislation has
created numerous specialized license plates primarily as
fundraising mechanisms for programs ranging from local
veteran services to the Lake Tahoe Conservancy. To raise
funds, a vehicle owner pays extra charges, typically around
$50 for issuance and $40 for annual renewal, to have these
plates on his/her vehicle. Revenues from these extra fees
then help support the relevant program.
State law also provides for various specialized license
plates that provide recognition for military service
rendered or for a particular occupation. Service
recognition plates include Purple Heart Medal recipient
plates, Congressional Medal of Honor plates, and Gold Star
Family plates, all of which involve no extra fee for the
plate and in some cases result in an exemption from the
basic vehicle registration fee. Occupational plates
include those for legislators, members of Congress, press
photographers, and consular officials. These plates impose
a varied range of extra fees depending on the legislation
that provided for their creation.
Fees too high . DMV reports that there are less than 500
legislative and congressional license plates currently
issued. The $12 fee to receive such plate dates from their
authorizing legislation in 1978, and today this fee is
insufficient to pay DMV's costs associated with the plates.
One reason the author gives for this bill is to ensure
that DMV's costs for these plate are covered by the fess.
Increasing the issuance fee four-fold and imposing an
annual renewal fee, as this bill proposes, would generate
revenues far in excess of DMV's costs.
Increasing the issuance fee from $12 to $18 would be
sufficient to cover DMV's costs for legislative and
congressional license plates. According to technical
information provided by DMV, such an $18 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. In general, it
costs DMV no more to renew a standard license plate than a
personalized plate, but existing law imposes the $38
renewal fee because personalized plates are a fundraiser
for environmental programs.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-0, 5/25/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Bill Berryhill, Cedillo,
Fletcher, Gorell, Grove, Hall, Knight, Ma, Perea, Silva
JJA:k 8/7/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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