BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SR 28|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SR 28
Author: Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: Majority
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 4/1/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SUBJECT : Vehicle license plates
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : 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/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.
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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:
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
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
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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 Senate
Transportation and Housing 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.
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 Senate Transportation and Housing 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.
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
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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 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 : Fiscal Com.: No
JA:d 4/2/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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