Bill Text: CA AB2963 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Pickup trucks.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-19 - Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. [AB2963 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2963-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 18, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2963
| Introduced by Assembly Member Essayli |
February 16, 2024 |
An act to amend Sections 260, 4150, and 9400 9400, and 9554 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2963, as amended, Essayli.
Pickup trucks.
Existing law defines a “commercial vehicle,” for purposes of the Vehicle Code, as a motor vehicle of a type required to be registered under that code that is used or maintained for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit or designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. Existing law subjects pickup trucks to commercial vehicle weight fees. Existing law requires an application for the original or renewal registration of a vehicle, including a pickup truck, to include specified information.
This bill would exclude from that definition a pickup truck that is not used for the transportation of property for hire, compensation, or profit. The bill would exempt those excluded pickup trucks from commercial vehicle weight fees. The bill would require a registration application for a pickup truck to
include whether or not the vehicle is a commercial vehicle. The bill would prohibit a pickup truck that is not a commercial vehicle and that renews registration after January 1, 2025, from being required to replace the vehicle’s license plates issued before January 1, 2025.
Existing law imposes registration fees, vehicle license fees, and weight fees on specified motor vehicles. Existing law requires a penalty to be added for the delinquent payment of specified fees, including registration, vehicle license, and weight fees, as specified.
This bill would prohibit the total penalties of these fees from exceeding 100% of the original balance due in order to complete a renewal of registration.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) The average cost of registering a vehicle in California has increased by nearly 85 percent over the past decade and is currently over $300.
(b) If the entire registration is not paid in full by the due date, late fees and penalties immediately begin to accrue.
(c) The maximum late penalties for the average registration is approximately double the original amount due. However, these penalties are regressive, with the owners of older and lower value vehicles facing maximum late charges of nearly 150 percent.
(d) According to the Franchise Tax Board, approximately 4,000,000 vehicle registration accounts become delinquent every year, and nearly 1,400,000 Californians annually face wage garnishment or the involuntary withdrawal of funds from their bank accounts to collect debt on behalf of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(e) Vehicles with delinquent registrations may also be impounded and sold to collect the debt.
(f) Californians with delinquent registration fees remain liable for the debt through civil action even if they sell or transfer the vehicle.
(g) Both the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 17 of Article I of the California Constitution prohibit the government from imposing excessive fines.
(h) In 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that charging California motorists a 100-percent late fee on a parking ticket may violate the Eight Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause (Pimentel v. City of Los Angeles (2020) 974 F.3d 917).
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature to prevent the Department of Motor Vehicles from charging late penalties for delinquent vehicle registration payments that are grossly disproportional to the underlying offense.
(j) The Legislature has previously taken action to protect motorists from other types of high, late penalties. In 2022,
the Legislature reduced the penalty for an unpaid traffic ticket by two-thirds and reduced the maximum penalties for a delinquent toll evasion violation by up to 10 times less than the previous penalty rates. In 2017, the Legislature waived all late fees on a parking ticket for indigent motorists who enroll in a payment plan.
SECTION 1.SEC. 2.
Section 260 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:260.
(a) A “commercial vehicle” is a motor vehicle of a type required to be registered under this code used or maintained for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit or designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.(b) Passenger vehicles and house cars that are not used for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit are not commercial vehicles. Pickup trucks that are not used for the transportation of property for hire, compensation, or profit are not commercial vehicles. This subdivision does not apply to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3.
(c) A vanpool vehicle is not a commercial vehicle.
(d) The definition of a commercial vehicle in this section does not apply to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 15200) of Division 6.
SEC. 2.SEC. 3.
Section 4150 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:4150.
Application for the original or renewal registration of a vehicle of a type required to be registered under this code shall be made by the owner to the department upon the appropriate form furnished by it and shall contain all of the following:(a) The true, full name, business or residence and mailing address, and driver’s license or identification card number, if any, of the owner, and the true, full name and business or residence or mailing address of the legal owner, if any.
(b) The name of the county in which the owner resides.
(c) A description
of the vehicle, including the following data insofar as they may exist:
(1) The make, model, and type of body.
(2) The vehicle identification number or any other identifying number as may be required by the department.
(3) The date first sold by a manufacturer, remanufacturer, or dealer to a consumer.
(4) For a pickup truck, whether or not the vehicle is a commercial vehicle.
(d) Any other information that is reasonably required by the department to enable it to determine whether the vehicle is lawfully entitled to registration.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a pickup truck that is not a commercial vehicle and that renews registration after January 1, 2025, shall not be required to replace the vehicle’s license plates issued before January 1, 2025.
SEC. 3.SEC. 4.
Section 9400 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:9400.
Except as provided in Section 9400.1, and in addition to any other registration fee, there shall be paid the fees set forth in this section for the registration of a commercial motor vehicle that operates with unladen weight. Weight fees for pickup trucks that are commercial vehicles are calculated under this section. Whenever a camper is temporarily attached to a motor vehicle designed to transport property, the motor vehicle shall be subject to the fees imposed by this section. The camper shall be deemed to be a load, and fees imposed by this section upon the motor vehicle shall be based upon the unladen weight of the motor vehicle, exclusive of the camper.(a) For an electric vehicle designed, used, or maintained as described in this section, fees shall be paid according to the following schedule:
Unladen Weight | Fee |
|---|---|
Less than 6,000 lbs.
........................
| $ 87 |
6,000 lbs. or more but less than 10,000 lbs.
........................
| 266 |
10,000 lbs. or more
........................
| 358 |
(b) For a motor vehicle having not more than two axles and designed, used, or maintained as described in this section, other than an electric vehicle, fees shall be paid according to the following schedule:
Unladen Weight | Fee |
|---|---|
Less than 3,000 lbs.
........................
| $ 8 |
3,000 lbs. to and including 4,000
lbs.
........................
| 24 |
4,001 lbs. to and including 5,000 lbs.
........................
| 80 |
5,001 lbs. to and including 6,000 lbs.
........................
| 154 |
6,001 lbs. to and including
7,000 lbs.
........................
| 204 |
7,001 lbs. to and including 8,000 lbs.
........................
| 257 |
8,001 lbs. to and including 9,000 lbs.
........................
| 308 |
9,001 lbs. to and including 10,000
lbs.
........................
| 360 |
(c) For a motor vehicle having three or more axles designed, used, or maintained as described in this section, other than an electric vehicle, fees shall be paid according to the following schedule:
Unladen Weight | Fee |
|---|---|
2,000 lbs. to and including 3,000 lbs.
........................
| $ 43 |
3,001 lbs. to and including 4,000 lbs.
........................
| 77 |
4,001 lbs. to and including 5,000 lbs.
........................
| 154 |
5,001 lbs. to and including 6,000 lbs.
........................
| 231 |
6,001 lbs. to and including 7,000 lbs.
........................
| 308 |
7,001 lbs. to and including 8,000 lbs.
........................
| 385 |
8,001 lbs. to and including 9,000 lbs.
........................
| 462 |
9,001 lbs. to and including 10,000 lbs.
........................
| 539 |
(d) This section does not apply to a vehicle that is operated or moved over the highway exclusively for the purpose of historical exhibition or other similar noncommercial purpose.
(e) The fee changes effected by this section apply to (1) initial or original registration on or after January 1, 1995, and prior to December 31, 2001, of a commercial vehicle never before registered in this state and (2) to renewal of registration of a commercial vehicle whose registration expires on or after January 1, 1995, and prior to December 31, 2001.
(f) Commercial vehicles, other than those specified in Section 9400.1, with an initial registration or renewal of registration that is due on or after December 31, 2001, are subject to
the payment of fees specified in this section.
SEC. 5.
Section 9554 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:9554.
(a) (1) A penalty shall be added on any application for renewal of registration made later than midnight of the date of expiration or on or after the date penalties become due. Penalties shall be computed as provided in Section 9559 and shall be collected with the fee.(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), commencing on July 1, 2011, a penalty shall not be added if an application for renewal of registration, or an application for renewal of special license plates, is made within 30 days after midnight of the expiration date of the registration or special plates. This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2012.
(b) The Except
as provided in subdivision (f), the penalty assessment for the delinquent payment of the registration fee specified in Section 9250 shall be as follows:
(1) Ten dollars ($10) for a delinquency period of 10 days or less.
(2) Fifteen dollars ($15) for a delinquency period of more than 10 days, to and including 30 days.
(3) Thirty dollars ($30) for a delinquency period of more than 30 days, to and including one year.
(4) Fifty dollars ($50) for a delinquency period of more than one year, to and including two years.
(5) One hundred dollars ($100) for a delinquency period of more than two years.
(c) The Except
as provided in subdivision (f), the penalty assessment for the delinquent payment of the weight fee specified in Section 9400 or 9400.1 and the vehicle license fee as specified in Section 10751 of the Revenue and Taxation Code shall be as follows:
(1) Ten percent of the vehicle license fee, or the combined amount of the vehicle license fee and the weight fee if the vehicle is subject to both fees, for a delinquency period of 10 days or less.
(2) Twenty percent of the vehicle license fee, or the combined amount of the vehicle license fee and the weight fee if the vehicle is subject to both fees, for a delinquency period of more than 10 days, to and including 30 days.
(3) Sixty percent of the vehicle license fee, or the combined amount of the vehicle license fee and the weight fee if the
vehicle is subject to both fees, for a delinquency period of more than 30 days, to and including one year.
(4) Eighty percent of the vehicle license fee, or the combined amount of the vehicle license fee and the weight fee if the vehicle is subject to both fees, for a delinquency period of more than one year, to and including two years.
(5) One hundred sixty percent of the vehicle license fee, or the combined amount of the vehicle license fee and the weight fee if the vehicle is subject to both fees, for a delinquency period of more than two years.
(d) On
Except as provided in subdivision (f), on or after January 1, 2003, a penalty assessment for weight fees not reported and not paid within 20 days as required by Section 9406 shall be applied to the difference in the weight fee as follows:
(1) Ten percent of the fee for a delinquency period of 10 days or less.
(2) Twenty percent of the fee for a delinquency period more than 10 days, to and including 30 days.
(3) Sixty percent of the fee for a delinquency period more than 30 days, to and including one year.
(4) Eighty percent of the fee for a delinquency period more than one year, to and including two years.
(5) One hundred sixty percent for a delinquency period more than two years.
(e) A Except as provided in subdivision (f), a single penalty assessment for the delinquent payment of the fees specified in Sections 9250.8 and 9250.13 shall be as follows:
(1) Ten dollars ($10) for a delinquency period of 10 days or less.
(2) Fifteen dollars ($15) for a delinquency period of more than 10 days, to and including 30 days.
(3) Thirty dollars ($30) for a delinquency period of more than 30 days, to and including one
year.
(4) Fifty dollars ($50) for a delinquency period of more than one year, to and including two years.
(5) One hundred dollars ($100) for a delinquency period of more than two years.
(6) This subdivision applies to the renewal of registration for vehicles with expiration dates on or after December 1, 2008.
(f) The total penalty assessments charged pursuant to this section shall not exceed 100 percent of the original balance due in order to complete a renewal of registration.
