BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1323
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 1323 (Lieu) - As Amended: August 4, 2014
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:14-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill modifies funding and administration of the Pet Lover's
specialized license plate program. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the DMV, after deducting its administrative
costs, to deposit revenue derived from specialized license
plates issued under the Pet Lover's License Plate Program
into the newly-established Pet Lover's License Fund (PLF)
rather than into the Specialized License Plate Fund.
2) Transfers moneys in the Specialized License Plate Fund
as of the operative date of this bill, which were derived
from sales of specialized license plates under the Pet
Lover's License Plate Program, to the PLF.
3) Provides that monies in the PLF are
continuously-appropriated to the Veterinary Medical Board
(VMB), rather than subject to appropriation by the
Legislature, solely to fund no-cost or low-cost animal
sterilization programs pursuant to regulations to be
adopted by the board, which may include designation of a
nonprofit corporation to administer the program.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Depending on the number of licenses plates sold, the
continuous appropriation could provide expenditure authority
to the VBM exceeding $150,000 in any fiscal year without
legislative budgetary oversight.
2)One-time transfer to the PLF of $120,000 in funds collected to
SB 1323
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date for the Pet Lover's program.
COMMENTS
1) Background . DMV currently administers 12 specialized
license plate programs, including the Pet Lover's
specialized license plate program. AB 610 (Solorio),
Chapter 9, Statutes of 2012, provided the VMB an additional
12-month period to meet the 7,500 application threshold as
required by existing law for such programs. The board
obtained the necessary applications over the additional 12
months and began issuing Pet Lover's specialized license
plates in September of 2013.
This bill requires DMV to deposit additional revenue generated
from the Pet Lover's specialized license plate program into
the newly created PLF and to be continuously appropriated to
VMB. The author introduced this bill in order to streamline
the funding process for the Pet Lover's plate program and to
keep revenue flowing to programs that fund animal
sterilization services. Currently a timing issue exists
between when DMV started collecting fees for the Pet Lover's
specialized license plate program and when DMV has the
authority to allocate the funds to VMB. Due to this timing
issue, VMB would receive program funds no earlier than July
2015. The author notes the provisions in this bill are
necessary to ensure that the funds meant to go to no-cost or
low-cost spay and neuter programs actually reach their
intended purpose in a timely manner and do not get delayed in
the state budget process.
2) The continuous appropriation in this bill is contrary to
the general policy of this committee and would be an
exception to the other specialized license plate programs,
which are subject to Legislative review and appropriation
in the annual budget act. The author's recent amendments
will allow for immediate transfer of moneys collected to
date for the intended use.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081