Amended in Assembly April 29, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 10, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2201

Introduced by Assembly Member Chávez

(Coauthors: Assembly Members begin insert Gordon, end insert Hagman, Jones, Maienschein, and Wilk)

(Coauthors: Senators Block and Vidak)

February 20, 2014

An act to add Section 12801.3 to the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2201, as amended, Chávez. Vehicles: driver’s license: selective service.

Existing law establishes the practices and procedures for the issuance of an original or a renewal of a driver’s license.

The federal Military Selective Service Act (federal act) requires specified persons to register with the federal Selective Service System.

This bill would require a person who is required to be registered begin delete with end delete begin insert under end insert the federal act and who submits an application for an original or a renewal of a driver’s license to be deemed to have consented to registration with the federal Selective Service System, as provided. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to include specified notices on an application for an original or renewal of a driver’s license and would require the department to forward the necessary personal information required for registration to the federal Selective Service System in an electronic format. begin insert The bill would make its provisions operative on January 1, 2016. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California has one of the lowest Selective Service System
registration compliance rates in the nation.

(b) Males who are between 18 and 26 years of age who fail to
register with the Selective Service System, as required by federal
law, face possible federal penalties and loss of federal benefits,
including student financial assistance, federal employment, such
as employment with the United States Postal Service, job training
under the federal Workforce Investment Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2801
et seq.), and citizenship for immigrants.

(c) California law requires selective service registration for state
student financial aid, including Cal grants and financial aid for
immigrants under the California Dream Act.

(d) The failure of young men to register with the Selective
Service System has resulted in the lifetime loss of over
$100,000,000 in potential benefits over the last three years for
young men in California.

(e) Forty states, four territories, and the District of Columbia
have enacted legislation related to the issuance of a driver’s license
in support of the Selective Service System registration.

(f) To promote the fairness and equity of any future draft, to
ensure that important benefits associated with the registration
requirement are not lost, and to promote compliance with federal
law, the driver’s license application process should be revised so
that every male applicant for an original driver’s license or renewal
who is between 18 and 26 years of age consents to his registration
with the Selective Service System, as required by federal law.

SEC. 2.  

Section 12801.3 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:

12801.3.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who is
required to be registered begin delete with end delete begin insert under end insert the federal Military Selective
Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. Sec. 451 et seq.) and who submits
an application for an original or a renewal of a driver’s license is
deemed to have consented to registration with the federal Selective
Service System.

(b) The submission of an application for an original or a renewal
of a driver’s license by a person specified in subdivision (a) shall
establish a conclusive presumption that the person has done either
of the following:

(1) Registered with the federal Selective Service System in
compliance with the federal Military Selective Service Act.

(2) Authorized the department to forward to the federal Selective
Service System the necessary information for the Selective Service
System registration when that person is required to register under
the federal Military Selective Service Act.

(c) The department shall require an application for an original
or a renewal of a driver’s license to include a notice indicating the
following:

“By submitting this application, I am consenting to registration
with the Selective Service System, if required by federal law. If I
am under 18 years of age, but at least 16 years of age, I understand
that I will be registered upon reaching 18 years of age.”

(d)  The department shall require an application for an original
or a renewal of a driver’s license to include a notice indicating the
following:

“For applicants who object to conventional military service for
religious or other conscientious reasons, alternative service
information is available from the Selective Service System Internet
Web site: http://www.sss.gov/FSaltsvc.htm”

(e) The department shall forward to the federal Selective Service
System, in an electronic format, the necessary personal information
required for the registration of a person specified in subdivision
(a).

(f) This section applies to United States citizens and immigrants
who are 16 years of age or older but less than 26 years of age who
are applying for an original driver’s license or renewal and who
are or will be required to register with the Selective Service System
in accordance with the Military Selective Service Act.

begin insert

(g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.

end insert