Bill Text: CA AB1242 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Vehicles: special interest license plates: NASCAR.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-01 - Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1242 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1242-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1242 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Achadjian
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 23251 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to vehicles. An act to amend Sections 5157
and 5159 of, and to add Section 5156.1 to, the Vehicle Code, relating
to vehicles, and making an appropriati on therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1242, as amended, Achadjian. Vehicles: toll highways.
special interest license plates: NASCAR.
Existing law authorizes private organizations to apply to the
Department of Motor Vehicles for participation in special interest
license plate programs authorized by legislation in which the
department issues license plates with a participating organization's
distinctive design, decal, or descriptive message and specifies the
design criteria for the special license plate. Existing law requires
that the organization collect and receive a minimum of 7,500
applications and fees for the special interest license plates from
the date of the enactment of the legislation authorizing the special
interest license plate. Existing law permits any individual to apply
for an organization's special interest license plate.
Existing law also authorizes a state agency to apply to the
Department of Motor Vehicles to sponsor a specialized license plate
program and requires the department to issue the specialized license
plates for the program if the state agency complies with specified
requirements.
This bill would authorize the Foundation for California Community
Colleges (foundation) to apply to the department to sponsor a program
for a series of specialized National Association for stock car Auto
Racing (NASCAR) license plates that bear emblems, seals, or other
symbols or designs displaying themes of professional stock car auto
racing or professional stock car auto racing drivers. The bill would
require the department to issue the specialized plates if the
foundation complies with existing requirements applicable to
specialized license plate programs. The bill would require that the
design of each specialty plate in the series be approved by the
department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
The bill would require the foundation to secure license rights for
the symbols and designs for the specialized NASCAR license plates.
The bill would specify that the fee for the original issuance of the
specialized license plates be $60, and, for the renewal of
registration with the plates the fee would be $50. The bill would
also require that these fees be distributed no less frequently than
each quarter annually to the department and the foundation in
specified amounts.
By requiring that the fees for the original issuance and the
renewal of a plate be distributed directly to the department and the
foundation, the bill would make a continuous appropriation of these
funds.
Existing law requires the Department of the California Highway
Patrol to provide for the proper and adequate policing of all toll
highways and all vehicular crossings to ensure enforcement of the
Vehicle Code and of any other law relating to the use and operation
of vehicles upon toll highways, highways or vehicular crossings, and
of the rules and regulations of the Department of Transportation as
they relate to those laws, and to cooperate with the Department of
Transportation to the end that vehicular crossings are operated at
all times in a manner as to carry traffic efficiently.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: no yes .
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature in
enacting this act to encourage the California Community Colleges and
other training institutions to identify funding mechanisms that
encourage the development of innovative training programs for motor
vehicle technicians that focus on reducing air pollution from
vehicles needing repair and to provide educational scholarships to
increase the number and skill level of motor vehicle technicians.
SEC. 2. Section 5156.1 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
5156.1. (a) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 5154, 5155, and 5156,
the Foundation for California Community Colleges, a nonprofit
foundation operating pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code, on behalf of its Vehicle Repair, Retirement and
Replacement for Motorists program, or a similar successor program,
may apply to the department to sponsor a program for a series of
officially licensed National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
(NASCAR) driver-specialized license plates, and the department shall
issue, or cause to be issued, specialized plates for that program, if
the foundation complies with the relevant requirements of this
article. This series of plates may bear emblems, seals, or other
symbols or designs displaying themes of professional stock car auto
racing or professional stock car auto racing drivers. The design of
each specialty plate in the series shall be approved by the
department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(2) The department shall not issue specialized license plates for
a vehicle that is exempt from the payment of registration fees
pursuant to Section 9101 or 9103.
(b) The department shall not establish this program until the
department has received not less than 7,500 applications for the
foundation's specialized license plates. The foundation shall collect
and hold applications for the plates. Once the foundation has
received at least 7,500 applications, it shall submit the
applications, along with the necessary fees, to the department. The
department shall not issue a specialized license plate until the
foundation has received and submitted to the department not less than
7,500 applications for this specialized license plate within the
time period prescribed in this section.
(c) The department shall cause to be issued any plate in this
series without a minimum number of applications for a specific
design.
(d) (1) If, five years after the program is established, the
number of outstanding and valid specialized plates in this program is
less than 7,500, the department shall notify the foundation and
shall inform the foundation that if the number is less than 7,500 one
year from the date of that notification, the department will no
longer issue or replace plates created under this program.
(2) Any plates issued prior to the discontinuation of the program
as provided in paragraph (1) may continue to be used and attached to
the vehicle for which they were issued and may be renewed, retained,
or transferred pursuant to this code.
SEC. 3. Section 5157 of the Vehicle Code
is amended to read:
5157. (a) In addition to the regular fees for an original
registration or renewal of registration, the following additional
fees shall be paid for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the
specialized license plates:
(1) For the original issuance of the plates, fifty dollars ($50).
(2) For a renewal of registration with the plates, forty dollars
($40).
(3) For transfer of the plates to another vehicle, fifteen dollars
($15).
(4) For each substitute replacement plate, thirty-five dollars
($35).
(5) In addition, for the issuance of environmental license plates,
as defined in Section 5103, with a specialized license plate design,
the additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108. The
additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108 shall be
deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund.
(6) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), for the original
issuance of specialized license plates pursuant to Section 5156.1,
sixty dollars ($60), and for the renewal of registration with the
plates, fifty dollars ($50).
(b) The Gold Star Family specialized license plate program as
provided in subdivision (d) of Section 5156 shall not be subject to
the fees specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (5) of subdivision (a)
and shall only be issued in a sequential series.
(c) Except as provided in paragraph
paragraphs (5) and (6) of subdivision (a) and
subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 5159 , and after
deducting its administrative costs under this section, the department
shall deposit the additional revenue derived from the issuance,
renewal, transfer, and substitution of the specialized license plates
in the Specialized License Plate Fund, which is hereby established
in the State Treasury. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
moneys in that fund shall be allocated to each sponsoring agency, in
proportion to the amount in the fund that is attributable to the
agency's specialized license plate program. Except as authorized
under Section 5159, the sponsoring agency shall expend all funds
received under this section exclusively for projects and programs
that promote the state agency's official policy, mission, or work.
(d) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs may actively request
and receive donations for the Gold Star Family License Plate Account
which is hereby created in the Specialized License Plate Fund and
which may consist of donations from public and private entities.
Earnings generated by the Gold Star Family License Plate Account
shall be retained by the account.
(2) Upon the determination of the department that there are
sufficient funds in the Gold Star Family License Plate Account for
this purpose, moneys in the Gold Star Family License Plate Account
shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the
department for the necessary administrative costs of establishing the
Gold Star Family specialized license plate program.
SEC. 4. Section 5159 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
5159. A (a) Except
as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), a state agency
that is eligible to participate in a specialized license plate
program pursuant to this article and receives funds from the
additional fees collected from the sale of specialized plates shall
not expend annually more than 25 percent of those funds on
administrative costs, marketing, or other promotional activities
associated with encouraging application for, or renewal of, the
specialized plates. This subdivision shall not apply to license
plates issued pursuant to Section 5156.1.
(b) With regard to the specialized license plate program
established pursuant to Section 5156.1, as a continuing
appropriation, the sixty-dollar ($60) original issuance fee shall be
distributed no less frequently than each quarter annually, as
follows:
(1) To the department, eight dollars ($8).
(2) To the Foundation for California Community Colleges, fifty-two
dollars ($52).
(c) With regard to the specialized license plate program
established pursuant to Section 5156.1, as a continuing
appropriation, the fifty dollar ($50) renewal fee shall be
distributed no less frequently than each quarter annually, as
follows:
(1) To the department, eight dollars ($8).
(2) To the Foundation for California Community Colleges, forty-two
dollars ($42).
(d) (1) The Foundation for California Community Colleges shall
secure license rights for emblems, seals, or other auto racing
symbols or designs displaying themes of professional stock car auto
racing or professional stock car auto racing drivers, for use on
specialized license plates authorized by Section 5156.1.
(2) (A) The terms of the license rights agreements shall hold the
state and the foundation harmless and indemnify the state and the
foundation from all losses, costs, expenses, including reasonable
attorney's fees, claims, demands, liabilities, causes of action, and
damages, arising out of the unauthorized use or infringement or other
proprietary right, in connection with the issuance of those
specialized license plates.
(B) The Foundation for California Community Colleges and the state
may require the hold harmless and indemnity agreements to be
supported by policies of commercial general liability insurance, or
other insurance, in amounts, and by insurance companies, that are
acceptable to the foundation and the state.
SECTION 1. Section 23251 of the Vehicle Code is
amended to read:
23251. (a) The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall
provide for proper and adequate policing of all toll highways and all
vehicular crossings to ensure the enforcement thereon of this code
and of any other law relating to the use and operation of vehicles
upon toll highways, highways or vehicular crossings, and of the rules
and regulations of the Department of Transportation as they relate
to those laws, and to cooperate with the Department of Transportation
to the end that vehicular crossings are operated at all times in a
manner as to carry traffic efficiently. The authority of the
Department of the California Highway Patrol is exclusive except as to
the authority conferred by law upon the Department of Transportation
in respect to vehicular crossings.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a private operator of a toll
highway may make temporary arrangements, not to exceed 30 days, for
traffic law enforcement services with an agency that employs peace
officers as described in Section 830.1 of the Penal Code, if the
Department of the California Highway Patrol cannot fulfill its
responsibilities as described in this section, as determined by the
Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
(c) The services provided by the Department of the California
Highway Patrol for all toll highways that are operated by a private
entity shall be reimbursed pursuant to Section 30809.1 of the Streets
and Highways Code. If the private operator of a toll highway and the
Department of the California Highway Patrol reach an impasse in
negotiating an agreement for reimbursement, the Secretary of the
Business, Transportation and Housing Agency shall assist in resolving
the impasse.
