BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1864
          Author:   Daly (D)
          Amended:  8/6/14 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  11-0, 6/24/14
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,  
            Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-1, 5/5/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Vehicles:  license plates

           SOURCE  :     California New Car Dealers Association


           DIGEST  :    This bill 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  
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          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  
          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 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 California Highway Patrol (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, first-line business  
            partners, 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.  This bill  
            specifically directs DMV to consider:

                 An enhanced display of the report-of-sale beyond what is  

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               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.

          1.Submit a report by January 1, 2016 to the Assembly  
            Transportation Committee and the Senate Transportation and  
            Housing 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.

           Comments
           
          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 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.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  Yes

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/12/14)


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          California New Car Dealers Association (source)

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/12/14)

          Metropolitan Transportation Commission

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-1, 5/5/14
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,  
            Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,  
            Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein,  
            Medina, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,  
            Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,  
            Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.  
            P�rez
          NOES:  Donnelly
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Logue, Mansoor, Melendez, Mullin, Vacancy


          JA:k  8/12/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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