BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1455
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: cogdill
VERSION: 4/22/08
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 29, 2008
SUBJECT:
Special interest license plates
DESCRIPTION:
This bill exempts the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), if
it sponsors a Gold Star Family specialized license plate, from
the requirement that it collect 7,500 paid applications for that
license plate prior to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
issuing it.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law provides for a specialized license plate program,
under which DMV may issue new special interest license plates
only on behalf of state agencies provided that for each state
agency:
The license plate has "a design or contains a message
that publicizes or promotes a state agency, or the official
policy, mission, or work of a state agency." The design
shall also be confined to the left of and below the
numerical series (i.e., no full plate designs allowed).
Plate revenues are used "exclusively for projects and
programs that promote the state or local agency's official
policy, mission, or work." These funds are deposited into
the Specialized License Plate Fund and are continuously
appropriated to the agency sponsoring the plate.
The state agency submits 7,500 applications and fees to
DMV for the license plate.
In addition to the usual registration and license fees, DMV
charges the following additional fees for specialized license
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plates: $50 (original), $40 (renewal), $15 (transfer), and $35
(license substitute) and deducts its administrative costs from
the revenues generated. A state agency may not spend more that
25 percent of its license plate funds for administrative,
marketing, and promotional costs associated with the plate, and
it must submit an annual accounting report to DMV.
This bill :
1)Finds and declares that "Gold Star Family" is commonly
understood to describe a family who has lost a loved one in
military service and notes that Gold Star Families in
California want to honor their lost family members through the
creation of a special license plate.
2)Allows DVA to sponsor a Gold Star Family specialized license
plate in the absence of 7,500 paid applications provided that
DMV determines there are sufficient funds in the Gold Star
Family License Plate Account, which the bill creates, to cover
DMV's costs to establish this license plate.
3)Permits DVA to raise funds through donations from public and
private entities for the Gold Star Family License Plate
Account and exempts a Gold Star Family specialized license
plate from the fees for specialized license plates in existing
law.
4)Requires DVA to determine if the vehicle owner applying for
Gold Star Family specialized license plates is eligible to
acquire these plates and to notify DMV of that person's
eligibility.
5)Defines as eligible to acquire Gold Star Family specialized
license plates a person who:
i) Is otherwise eligible to register a motor vehicle;
ii) Can present proof from either the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense that the
member of the Armed Forces of the United States was killed
while on active duty; and
iii) Bears and can show proof satisfactory to DVA of
one of the following relationships to the person killed
while on active duty:
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Widow or widower
Biological parent, adoptive parent, step
parent, or foster parent
Biological child, adoptive child, or
stepchild
Sibling or half-sibling
Grandparent
Grandchild
1)Permits a Gold Star Family specialized license plate to be
transferred to a surviving spouse, upon the death of a person
issued the license plate.
BACKGROUND:
The Vehicle Code requires DMV to issue, upon legislative
authorization, a special interest license plate that bears a
distinctive design or decal of a sponsoring organization to any
vehicle owner that pays specified fees and that is displayed in
place of regular license plates, provided that certain
conditions are met. These conditions include that an entity
sponsoring a special interest license plate collect 7,500
applications and fees for a special license plate.
Those provisions of the Vehicle Code were invalidated in 2004 by
a federal court decision, Women's Resource Network v. Gourley,
E.D. Cal 2004, F.Supp.2d, 2004 U.S. Dist., which declared them
unconstitutional because they violate 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 special interest license plates existing at the
time of its decision to remain in use and available to new
applicants.
In response to the court decision, AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 454,
Statutes of 2006, established the specialized license plate
program, under which a state agency could sponsor a license
plate that promotes its mission. When the Legislature considered
AB 84 it was to provide a forum for government speech that
promotes California's state policies and excludes private
organizations from seeking specialized license plates as a forum
for private speech, and thus addressed the court's objection.
To date, no license plates have been issued under AB 84's
specialized license plate program.
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The current special interest license plate types, all issued
before the 2004 Gourley decision, include (with the total number
of license plates outstanding): Collegiate (UCLA) (2,374),
Yosemite (52,208), Olympic Training Center (3,326), Arts
(73,535), Kids (117,055), Veterans (22,977), Firefighters
(22,000), Lake Tahoe (33,512), Coastal Conservancy (Whale Tail)
(99,529), and the California Memorial License Plate (25,772).
Because of the proliferation of license plate types and their
resulting loss of effectiveness as a vehicle identifier, the
Senate Transportation Committee in the mid-1990s adopted a
committee policy that established a moratorium on the
consideration of any special interest license plate bills. The
committee has approved the policy for all subsequent legislative
sessions, including the current one. Despite the committee
policy, the committee has approved some special interest license
plate bills, including those creating plates for the Girl Scouts
of America, the Rotary International, the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library, breast cancer treatment, and
anti-terrorism programs. With the exception of the California
Memorial License Plate, which was specifically exempt from this
requirement, none of these license plates were ever issued
because the sponsors were unable to collect the required 7,500
initial subscriptions.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill at the request of the
Department of Veterans Affairs to provide recognition through
a special license plate to families who have lost a loved one
in service in the United States military. By exempting a Gold
Star Family license plate from the 7,500 subscription
requirement and creating an alternative funding mechanism, the
author notes that the bill allows the state to show its
gratitude to Gold Star Families without placing an additional
burden on the state's taxpayers. Proponents point out that
over a dozen states have already established Gold Star Family
license plates available to their residents that have suffered
tragic losses due to war.
2.Committee policy . As described in the background section
above, this committee has long had a policy that reads in
part: "The Committee will not consider any measure that would
authorize the issuance of a special interest license plate
bearing unique graphics or insignia, or identifying a
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particular group affiliation ? ." This bill provides for the
creation of a special interest license plate that bears unique
graphics in order to identify a particular group affiliation,
that of Gold Star Families. Rather than creating the special
interest license plate for Gold Star Families, this bill
creates an exemption for DVA to existing law that allows state
agencies to create plates to promote their own mission if they
collect 7,500 applications for a plate. Because the bill
itself does not actually create a special license plate, it
does not violate the committee's policy.
3.The first of many exemptions . Proponents have asserted that
Gold Star Families are uniquely worthy of a special license
plate because of the tragedy each has endured in service to
this country. While no one disputes that these families each
have faced a terrible loss, it is highly likely that if this
bill is enacted it will be the first of several such plates.
It is easy to imagine that the families of fallen law
enforcement, highway workers, and firefighters would seek a
similar special license plate.
RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 287 (Denham) would have established a Gold Star Family
special license plate. Held in this committee and died without
being heard.
AB 2896 (Leiber) establishes a Gold Star Family special license
plate. Pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 23,
2008)
SUPPORT: Department of Veterans Affairs (sponsor)
Blue Star Moms, East Bay Chapter #101
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Marine Corps League - Modesto Detachment # 19
Hon. Mary Nejedly Piepho, Contra Costa County
Supervisor - District 3
Approximately 80 individuals
OPPOSED: None received.