BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 1864
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: daly
VERSION: 6/15/14
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 24, 2014
SUBJECT:
Vehicles: license plates
DESCRIPTION:
This bill reduces from 90 to 75 days the maximum time during
which a car can operate without a license plate when the owner
has not received a license plate, and further requires the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to evaluate the need for
California to implement a new system for the temporary
identification of vehicles during the time before license plates
arrive.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law prohibits a person from driving, moving, or parking
a motor vehicle on the highway or in a public parking facility
unless it is registered with the DMV. When someone buys a new
car, it is not yet registered, nor does it display license
plates. Instead, the dealer must affix to the inside of the
vehicle's windshield a DMV-created report-of-sale form showing
that the vehicle is in the process of being registered. The
report-of-sale provides temporary operating authority for that
vehicle. This process is also followed for used cars that do
not have license plates.
At the time of retail sale, existing law assigns the vehicle
dealer responsibility for submitting an application and
accompanying fees to DMV to register a new vehicle and to
transfer registration for a used vehicle. The dealer has 20
days for a new vehicle or 30 days for a used vehicle to deliver
to DMV the application and fees necessary to register the
vehicle in the buyer's name. (This process typically occurs
through a third party, known as a DMV Business Partner.)
Once DMV receives and processes the application, it issues and
then DMV (or its business partner) mails to the new owner two
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license plates, a vehicle registration card, and the appropriate
registration stickers for the vehicle's rear license plate. The
owner must affix the two license plates upon receipt of them,
but the vehicle may be operated while displaying a
report-of-sale until the owner receives the license plates or 90
days, whichever occurs first.
This bill reduces to 75 days from 90 the maximum period during
which a vehicle can operate before displaying license plates.
The bill further directs DMV to assess the need for a temporary
vehicle identifier, beyond the report-of-sale, that vehicles
could display during this period and, if that assessment shows
the need, to examine various alternative systems. Specifically,
DMV shall:
1.Assess, in consultation with CHP, the need for a temporary
vehicle identification system different from the display of
the report-of-sale form. In making this assessment, DMV shall
consider information from relevant entities, including local
government, other law enforcement, licensed vehicle dealers,
and consumer representatives as well as the experience in
other states with temporary license plates or other
alternative vehicle identification systems.
2.Examine, if the assessment shows a need, the costs and
benefits of different temporary vehicle identification systems
that the state could put in place, including potential methods
for paying the costs associated with these systems. The bill
specifically directs DMV to consider:
An enhanced display of the report-of-sale beyond what is
required in existing law
A temporary license plate system that is not integrated
with either DMV's or law enforcement's databases
A temporary license plate system with its own database
that is accessible both to DMV and to law enforcement
A temporary license plate system that is fully
integrated with DMV's database and the California Law
Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS)
1.Submit a report by January 1, 2016 to the Assembly
Transportation Committee and to this committee that provides
the result of the assessment and the examination, if
conducted. In this report, DMV, along with CHP, shall make a
recommendation as to whether the state should implement a new
temporary vehicle identification system.
AB 1864 (DALY) Page 3
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill to build upon prior
successful legislation from 2011, AB 1215 (Blumenfield),
Chapter 329, that, among other things, mandated that new car
dealers use electronic vehicle registration starting July 1,
2012. At the time of AB 1215's passage, DMV was under
considerable pressure to ensure the timeliness of the issuance
of license plates that sometimes took 90 or more days before
arrival. All interested parties understood the importance of
getting the registration process completed in a timelier
manner, and AB 1215 accomplished that goal.
As a result of AB 1215's implementation, proponents of this
bill report that consumers are now getting license plates as
soon as two weeks after the purchase or lease of their
vehicles and that almost all license plates are now received
by vehicle owners within a month. Because vehicle owners must
affix their license plates upon receipt of those plates, this
bill reduces the time period a person can drive without
permanent license plates from 90 days to 75 days. This time
is still sufficient to account for the existing registration
process that allows dealers up to a total 50 days for used
vehicles and 40 days for new vehicles. This existing process
prescribes that dealers must register new vehicles within 20
days and used vehicles within 30 days, but have an additional
20 days to correct any registration defects that DMV
discovers.
In addition, recent amendments will require DMV to assess the
problems, such as difficulties with camera enforcement at
stoplights and toll collection plazas, that occur when using
solely the report-of-sale as a temporary vehicle identifier
and to examine alternative methods to identify vehicles before
they display permanent license plates. The problems caused by
vehicles without permanent plates are not well understood nor
quantified, and no one has conducted an evaluation of
potential temporary identifiers. This bill fills that void by
fully examining the problems and the costs and benefits of
potential solutions, while also ensuring that needed
stakeholders are involved.
2.How much time for a temporary identifier ? State law requires
that a vehicle owner attach a license plate to a vehicle "upon
receipt" of that license plate, but allows up to 90 days - 75
AB 1864 (DALY) Page 4
if this bill becomes law - for the license plate to arrive.
Typically, license plates arrive within a month, as state law
also provides dealers 20 days after selling a vehicle to
submit the required application and fees to DMV. This 20-day
period is to ensure that the dealer has time to finish the
financing of the vehicle through a third-party lender and to
confirm other details of the new ownership arrangement. It is
this period from time of sale to receipt of plates that a
temporary vehicle identifier - currently the report-of-sale -
fills. In recent years, several proposals have surfaced to
mandate various temporary license plate systems to replace the
report-of-sale. This bill charges DMV with assessing the need
for such a system, to examine options for how it could be
implemented, and to recommend a system that would most
cost-effectively meet the need.
3.Opposition . The Independent Automobile Dealers Association
opposes this bill's shortening from 75 to 90 days the time
during which a report-of-sale can serve as a valid temporary
vehicle registration. The association, which represents
dealers that typically sell used vehicles, notes that it has
been less than two years since AB 1215 shortened this period
from six months to 90 days. The association reports that its
member dealers find it difficult to complete title transfers
within that shortened time period, and the even shorter period
this bill allows would be even more difficult.
4.Technical amendment . On page 3, line 14, delete "the chairs
of"
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 74-1
Appr: 16-1
Trans: 16-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 18,
2014.)
SUPPORT: California New Car Dealers Association (sponsor)
OPPOSED: Independent Automobile Dealers Association of
California
AB 1864 (DALY) Page 5