BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1282 (Knight) - Gold Star Family license plates:
personalization.
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: T&H 11-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 19, 2014 Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1282 would require the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) to offer Gold Star Family specialized license
plates as personalized "environmental" plates.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time DMV costs in the range of $300,000, primarily
related to programming changes to allow for personalization
of Gold Star Family plates as well as changes to forms and
the department's website. (Motor Vehicle Account)
Minor ongoing administrative costs to DMV to provide for
plate transfers, retention of plates by a surviving spouse,
or ensuring compliance with surrender of plates, as
necessary. (Motor Vehicle Account)
Background: Existing law authorizes DMV to establish specialized
license plate programs sponsored by state agencies, upon
submittal of 7,500 applications and corresponding fees for a new
specialized plate. The collection of applications and fees on
the front end ensures there are sufficient revenues to cover
DMV's startup costs, and sufficient demand to justify the
establishment of a new plate program.
Existing law, SB 1455 (Cogdill), Chap. 309/2008, authorized the
Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) to sponsor a Gold Star
Family specialized license plate program. Instead of requiring
7,500 pre-paid applications, SB 1455 authorized CalVet to
solicit public and private donations for deposit into a special
fund to cover DMV's administrative costs to establish the Gold
Star Family plate program. CalVet must certify eligibility from
an applicant and authorize DMV to issue Gold Star Family license
plates for a vehicle owned by an eligible family member, as
SB 1282 (Knight)
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defined, of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who was killed in
the line of duty. Existing law exempts an applicant for these
plates from paying specified fees for the issuance and renewal
of special interest license plates, and specifies the plates may
only be issued in a sequential series. As such, they may not be
issued as personalized plates, referred to in statute as
"environmental license plates."
DMV began issuing Gold Star Family license plates in November of
2010 and has issued plates to 737 vehicles to date. There are
currently 599 registered vehicles with Gold Star Family plates.
Proposed Law: SB 1282 would delete the requirement that Gold
Star Family license plates be issued only in a sequential
series, thereby requiring DMV to issue personalized Gold Star
Family license plates.
Staff Comments: As noted above, existing law requires that Gold
Star Family specialized license plates may only be issued in a
sequential series. This provision was negotiated among DMV, the
author, and sponsor, and included in the authorizing statute in
the interest of keeping the costs of establishing the program as
low as possible to ease CalVet's fundraising obligation and
expediting the initiation of the program. By removing the
requirement that Gold Star Family plates be issued only in a
sequential series, this bill requires DMV to expand the program
to provide for the issuance of personalized plates. Contrary to
the spirit of this and other specialized license plate programs
that provide for DMV's full cost recovery, this bill would
impose significant costs on DMV to conduct programming and other
administrative functions necessary to allow for personalization
of Gold Star Family plates.