Bill Text: CA AB498 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Vehicles: special interest license plates and decals:

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 345, Statutes of 2010. [AB498 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB498-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 498	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 19, 2010
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 23, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 17, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 1, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 25, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 4, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 16, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hayashi
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Lieu)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to amend Section 5101.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 498, Hayashi.  Vehicles: special interest license plates and
decals: former American prisoners of war (POWs).
    Existing law authorizes private organizations, including veterans'
organizations, to participate in special interest license plate
programs in which the Department of Motor Vehicles issues license
plates with a participating organization's distinctive design or
decal, and specifies the various fees concerning the issuance,
renewal, registration, and replacement of damaged or unserviceable
plates and decals. Existing law permits an eligible person who is a
former American prisoner of war to apply for specially designed
license plates for his or her vehicle that include distinctive
lettering indicating "POW" and "Ex-Prisoner of War" and generally
exempts that vehicle from registration and vehicle license fees
(VLF).
   This bill would additionally require the department, in
consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans'
service organizations, to design and make available for issuance a
special environmental design license plate for former American
prisoners of war who prefer not to have their former status as a "POW"
or "Ex-Prisoner of War" identified by words or other markings or
symbols. The bill would require specified design criteria for these
special interest license plates.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The State of California recognizes the tremendous sacrifices
made by former American prisoners of war (POWs) and the special
significance these veterans hold in American military history. The
Department of Veterans Affairs is the agency tasked to serve
California's veterans and their families by providing advocacy and to
facilitate access to numerous benefits and services available to
veterans, which includes, among other things, certain categories of
veterans' license plates issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
   (b) Although ex-POWs are extremely proud of their great sacrifice
to the war effort, it is with deep respect and understanding that the
Legislature acknowledges that due to the experience of being held
captive, there are ex-POWs that appreciate the vehicle registration
fee exemption provided in the Vehicle Code in recognition of their
service, but for personal reasons, would prefer not to have their
ex-POW status displayed on their vehicle license plates.
   (c) To this end, the Legislature declares that the Department of
Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the Department of Veterans
Affairs and veterans' service organizations, shall design and make
available for issuance pursuant to Article 8.5 (commencing with
Section 5100) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of the Vehicle Code, an
optional environmental license plate or decal for former American
prisoners of war who prefer not to have their former status as
ex-POWs identified by words or other markings or symbols.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5101.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   5101.5.  (a) A person otherwise eligible under this article who is
a former American prisoner of war may apply for special license
plates for the vehicle under this article. The special license plates
assigned to the vehicle shall run in a separate numerical series and
contain a replica design of the American Prisoner of War Medal
followed by the letters "POW" and four numbers. The special license
plates issued under this subdivision also shall contain the following
words: "Ex-Prisoner of War." The department shall, pursuant to this
article, reserve and issue the special license plates provided for by
this section only to persons who show by satisfactory proof former
prisoner-of-war status. A person otherwise issued license plates
within this series pursuant to this article prior to January 1, 1982,
may retain them.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department, in
consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans'
service organizations, shall design and make available for issuance
pursuant to this article a special environmental design license plate
for former American prisoners of war who prefer not to have their
former status as a "POW" or "Ex-Prisoner of War" identified by words
or other markings or symbols. This section is not intended to
prohibit individuals eligible for the special license plate from
selecting the existing license plate design specified in subdivision
(a). The design criteria for a special interest license plate
pursuant to this subdivision are as follows:
   (1) The license plate for a passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle,
or trailer shall provide a space not larger than two inches by three
inches to the left of the numerical series and a space not larger
than five-eighths of an inch in height below the numerical series for
a distinctive design, decal, or descriptive message as authorized by
this subdivision. The license plates shall be issued in sequential
numerical order or, pursuant to Section 5103, in a combination of
numbers or letters.
   (2) The license plate shall not identify "POW" or "Ex-Prisoner of
War" by words or other markings or symbols.
   (c) Special license plates may be issued pursuant to subdivision
(a) only for a vehicle owned or coowned by a former American prisoner
of war.
   (d) Upon the death of a person issued the special license plates
pursuant to this section, his or her surviving spouse may retain the
special license plates subject to the conditions set forth in this
section. If there is no surviving spouse, the special license plates
shall be returned to the department either within 60 days following
that death, or upon the expiration date of the vehicle registration,
whichever date occurs first. However, in the absence of a surviving
spouse, a member of the former prisoner of war's family may retain
one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to
the conditions set forth in subdivision (i), upon submitting an
affidavit to the department agreeing not to attempt to use the
special license plates for vehicle registration purposes.
   (e) If a surviving spouse who has elected to retain the special
license plates as authorized under subdivision (d) dies while in
possession of the special license plates, the special license plates
shall be returned to the department either within 60 days following
that death, or upon the expiration date of the vehicle registration,
whichever date occurs first. However, a member of the former prisoner
of war's family may retain one of the special license plates as a
family heirloom, subject to the conditions set forth in subdivision
(i), upon submitting an affidavit to the department agreeing not to
attempt to use the special license plates for vehicle registration
purposes.
   (f) A vehicle exempted from fees by Section 9105 and by Section
10783 of the Revenue and Taxation Code shall lose the exemption upon
the death of the former American prisoner of war, except that if a
surviving spouse elects to retain the special license plates as
authorized under subdivision (d), the exemption pursuant to Section
9105, and Section 10783.2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, shall
extend until the death of that spouse.
   (g) Sections 5106 and 5108 do not apply to this section.
   (h) The department shall recall all former prisoner-of-war special
license plates issued pursuant to this section prior to January 1,
1999, and shall issue to the holder of those special license plates,
without charge, the revised special license plates authorized by this
section.
   (i) The special license plates issued under this section are not
valid for use for vehicle registration purposes or for the purposes
of Section 9105 or Section 10783 or 10783.2 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code by a person other than the person issued the special
license plates under subdivision (a) and the surviving spouse of that
person.
   (j) For purposes of this section, "family" means grandparents,
stepgrandparents, parents, stepparents, siblings, stepsiblings,
children, and stepchildren of the person issued the special license
plates under subdivision (a).