BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SR 28
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: t&H
VERSION: 2/19/14
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell
Hearing date: April 1, 2014
SUBJECT:
Vehicle license plates
DESCRIPTION:
This resolution requests that the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) create a task force made up of DMV, California Highway
Patrol (CHP), and local law enforcement to study and make
recommendations by July 1, 2015 on license plate designs
appropriate for traffic safety and effective law enforcement in
today's environment.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law requires that DMV issue license plates for a
vehicle when the owner originally registers the vehicle. An
owner must affix these plates to vehicle as soon as he or she
receives them from DMV. In addition to the standard white
California license plates, there are currently 46 different
license plate configurations in use in California today,
including plates designating recipients of military honors and
several special-interest license plates designed to raise money,
through additional vehicle registration fees, for specified
nonprofit or public agency programs.
Existing law since 2007 has permitted DMV to 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 promotes the state
agency, or its official policy, mission, or work. The design
must be confined to the left of and below the numerical series
(i.e., no full plate designs allowed). In addition, the state
agency must submit 7,500 applications and accompanying fees to
DMV before DMV will begin production of that plate.
This resolution :
SR 28 (T&H) Page 2
1.Requests that the Director of DMV establish a task force whose
members shall include representatives from DMV, CHP, and local
law enforcement agencies to study and make recommendations to
the Legislature and the governor on the proliferation of
license plate types authorized for use in the state.
2.Requests that this task force assess the cumulative and
potential future impact on vehicle identification and safety
resulting from the increase in license plate configurations
and recommend a comprehensive plan to ensure the effectiveness
of license plates authorized for use in the state.
3.Requests that the task force submit the results from its study
and its recommendations to the Legislature and the governor no
later than July 1, 2015.
4.Declares a moratorium on legislation to increase the number of
license plate types that DMV may issue until the Legislature
can assess the full and long-term impact of the ongoing
increase in license plate types.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . In 1994, the Senate Transportation Committee
authored Senate Resolution 43, which the Senate adopted. SR
43 directed DMV, along with CHP and law enforcement, to study
the types of license plates authorized in California at that
time and to make recommendations on how to address the
proliferation of license plate types. That resolution also
declared a moratorium on legislation creating new plates while
the study was underway.
In July 1995, DMV issued the resulting report, which concluded
that the 45 license plate designs in use at that time
presented problems for law enforcement due to diminished
readability and recognizability of plates with full or partial
plate graphics. The report did not, however, recommend
recalling the special license plates in use due to the
negative impact on motorists and the cost of such a recall.
Instead the report made recommendations - now incorporated
both in statute and in committee policy - as follows:
Maintain the existing standard white license plate with
blue characters and red script "California".
Decrease through attrition the number of license plates
authorized in California.
SR 28 (T&H) Page 3
Authorize no additional special-interest license plates,
but in cases where the Legislature determines there is a
compelling need for a special-interest plate, it should
rigorously adhere to strict design guidelines to facilitate
plate identification by law enforcement. These guidelines
include no full plate design or graphics as well as
requiring plates to meet readability and legibility
standards set by CHP.
Due to renewed interest in legislation creating special
interest license plates as well as the technological advances
since the mid-1990s, the committee believes it time to direct
DMV, CHP, and other law enforcement to again review and report
on license plate readability and recognition. This resolution
accomplishes that.
1.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, nonprofit
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 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, 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 (Leslie), Chapter
454, Statutes of 2006, established the current specialized
license plate program to provide a forum for government speech
SR 28 (T&H) Page 4
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.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, March 26,
2014.)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.