BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1096
Author: Nestande (R), et al.
Amended: 8/22/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/26/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Roth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Special-interest license plates: Salton Sea
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Fish and
Wildlife to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
establish a special-interest license plate that promotes Salton
Sea restoration.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/22/14 resolve chaptering conflicts
with AB 2450 (Logue).
ANALYSIS : Any state agency, including the Department of
Health Care Services, may sponsor a special-interest license
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plate pursuant to AB 84 (Leslie, Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006).
Under AB 84, the DMV may issue new special-interest license
plates only on behalf of state agencies and only provided that
for each state agency:
The license plate has "a design or contains a message that
publicizes or promotes a state agency, or the official policy,
mission, or work of a state agency." The design shall also be
confined to the left of and below the numerical series (i.e.,
no full plate designs allowed).
The state agency submits 7,500 applications and accompanying
fees to DMV for the license plate. The state agency has 12
months to collect these applications and fees, but it can
extend that to a maximum of 24 months if it notifies and
offers to refund fees to those who applied during the first 12
months. Once a plate is issued, DMV stops issuing that plate
for the agency if the number of plates drops below 7,500.
In addition to the usual registration and license fees, DMV
charges the following additional fees for specialized license
plates: $50 for the initial issuance, $40 for annual renewal,
and $15 to transfer to another vehicle. DMV deducts its
administrative costs from the revenues generated. The net
revenues derived from a specialized license plate are then
available upon appropriation for the sponsoring state agency to
expend exclusively on projects and programs that promote the
state agency's official policy, mission, or work.
A sponsoring state agency may not spend more than 25% of its
license plate funds for administrative, marketing, and
promotional costs associated with the plate, and it must submit
an annual accounting report to DMV.
This bill:
1.Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to DMV
pursuant to AB 84 to sponsor a Salton Sea license plate
program.
2.Directs the revenues derived from this license plate, after
paying DMV's costs, to the Salton Sea authority for
restoration of the Salton Sea.
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Comments
History of special-interest license plates . Historically, the
Vehicle Code required DMV to issue, upon legislative
authorization, a special-interest license plate bearing a
distinctive design or decal of a sponsoring organization to any
vehicle owner that pays specified fees, provided that the
sponsoring organization met certain conditions. These
conditions included that the sponsor of a special-interest
license plate had to be a nonprofit organization and had to
collect 7,500 applications and fees for a special license plate
in order to pay DMV's costs of creating a new plate, which are
approximately $375,000 or 7,500 applications times the $50 fee.
In 2004, a federal court decision, Women's Resource Network v.
Gourley, E.D. Cal 2004, F.Supp.2d, 2004 U.S. Dist., invalidated
these provisions of the Vehicle Code. In the Gourley decision,
the court declared California's special-interest license plate
statutes unconstitutional because they violated the First
Amendment right to freedom of speech. The court specifically
objected to the Legislature "picking and choosing" special
license plates that private organizations propose, in essence
promoting the message of some organizations while denying this
right to others. The court did allow the 10 special-interest
license plates existing at the time of its decision to remain in
use and available to new applicants, as they are today.
In response to the court decision, AB 84 established the
current specialized license plate program to provide a forum for
government speech that promotes California's state policies. AB
84 excludes private organizations from seeking specialized
license plates as a forum for private speech and thus addresses
the court's objection. Newly created plates and the revenue
they generate must publicize or promote a state agency or the
official policy, mission, or work of a state agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Estimated DFW costs of $25,000 in 2014-15 for plate design,
and approximately $50,000 in 2015-16 for 1/2 personnel year of
staff time to collect the initial 7,500 applications and fees
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for the establishment of the plate program (General Fund).
These costs could continue into 2016-17 if the requisite
applications and fees are not collected within the first year
and DFW applies to DMV for a 12-month extension.
Assuming 7,500 pre-paid applications are collected by DFW, DMV
would incur initial administrative costs of $135,000 to
process the applications, and an additional $440,000 in
programming and other implementation costs, likely in 2016-17
or 2017-18, partially offset by pre-paid application fees of
$375,000, leaving a net first-year cost of approximately
$200,000 (Motor Vehicle Account). These net costs would be
reimbursed in the following fiscal year by registration
renewal fees from holders of the Salton Sea plates. All
ongoing costs thereafter would be fully offset by fees from
renewals and issuance of new plates.
Upon full implementation of the proposed plate program, there
would be ongoing revenues of approximately $300,000 annually
available for use by the Salton Sea Authority for restoration
of the Salton Sea (based on 7,500 plate renewals). These
revenues could be higher to the extent additional Salton Sea
plates are issued.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/14)
City of Indian Wells
City of Palm Springs
Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau
Indio Chamber of Commerce
Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author introduced this bill to
compel the Department of Fish and Wildlife to sponsor a
special-interest license plate in order to provide funds to
assist with restoration of the Salton Sea and to raise public
awareness for that effort. There was a time when the Salton Sea
attracted more visitors per year than Yosemite National Park,
but the author asserts that decades of neglect have had a
negative impact on the wildlife and local residents. By looking
at every viable solution to raise these crucial funds that are
needed - including a special-interest license plate - the author
believes that California can protect the residents of the
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Coachella Valley and its economic vitality, restore a vibrant
ecosystem that benefits countless species, and establish a new
recreational resource that will help draw new visitors to the
region to enjoy all that the desert has to offer.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Yamada, Vacancy
JA:nl 8/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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