Bill Text: CA SR28 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relative to vehicle license plates

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-10 - Read. Adopted. (Ayes 34. Noes 0. Page 3144.) [SR28 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SR28-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: SR 28	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  APRIL 10, 2014
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 19, 1950

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Transportation and Housing (Senators
DeSaulnier (Chair), Beall, Cannella, Gaines, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara,
Liu, Pavley, Roth, and Wyland)

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2014

   Relative to vehicle license plates


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, In 1937, the Legislature enacted statutes requiring all
motor vehicles operating upon the highways to display license plates;
and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature created the license plate system to make
the ownership and registration status of the vehicle readily
identifiable, and, over the intervening decades, the Department of
Motor Vehicles worked to improve both the visibility and legibility
of the license plates it issued; and
   WHEREAS, The number of different license plates the Department of
Motor Vehicles issues has increased significantly over the decades to
include different types of plates for different types of vehicles,
to the extent there are currently 47 different license plate types in
use in California; and
   WHEREAS, Since the 1980s, various special interest groups have
persuaded the Legislature to create special interest license plates
to identify their particular affiliations or fund their individual
causes, which has further compounded the proliferation of license
plate types in use in California; and
   WHEREAS, Vehicle license plates were not originally intended to
promote or advertise a particular cause or ideology, or to fund the
operations or projects of special interest groups or state agencies;
and
   WHEREAS, Because of concerns that the configuration and graphic
components of various license plates have reduced the legibility,
recognizability, and usefulness to the public and law enforcement
agencies of license plates as a means of vehicle identification and
determination of registration status, and have resulted in the
denigration of public safety, the Senate Committee on Transportation
authored, and the Senate passed, Senate Resolution 43 of 1994 to
establish a moratorium on legislation to increase the number of
license plate types authorized for issuance until the Legislature
could assess the full and long-term impact of the increase in license
plate types, and until the Department of Motor Vehicles, the
Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of
Justice, and local law enforcement could form a task force to study
and make recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor about
the proliferation of license plate types authorized for use in
California; and
   WHEREAS, The task force reported its findings and recommendations
in July 1995 and therein recommended that California maintain the
white reflectorized license plate with red script "California" and
blue alpha/numeric characters, reduce the number of license plate
types, and issue no additional special interest license plates. These
recommendations, however, noted that if the Legislature determines
that a compelling need exists to authorize another special interest
license plate, it should rigorously adhere to design standards that
include no full plate graphics, confining the message to the left of
and below the alpha/numeric series, and specify visibility standards;
and
   WHEREAS, In the intervening 18 years, the Women's Resource Center
sued the state, which resulted in the court enjoining the state from
creating additional special interest license plates for nonprofit
organizations; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature passed AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 454 of the
Statutes of 2006, to create an administrative process for state
agencies to create special interest license plates to promote the
mission of the agency; and
   WHEREAS, Three state agencies have created special interest
license plates pursuant to the AB 84 process and the Legislature has
authorized through statute several additional special interest
license plates; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That there
again be established a moratorium on legislation to increase the
number of license plate types that the Department of Motor Vehicles
is authorized to issue until the Legislature can assess the full and
long-term impact from the ongoing increase in license plate types;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Director of Motor Vehicles is requested to
establish a task force, whose members shall include representatives
from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of the
California Highway Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies, to
study and make recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on
the proliferation of license plate types authorized for use in the
state; and be it further
   Resolved, That the special task force shall assess the cumulative
and potential future impact on vehicle identification and safety from
the increase in license plate configurations and recommend to the
Legislature and the Governor a comprehensive plan to ensure the
effectiveness of license plate types authorized for use in
California; and be it further
   Resolved, That the results and recommendations of this task force
be submitted to the Legislature and the Governor no later than July
1, 2015; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Director of Motor Vehicles and the Commissioner of
the California Highway Patrol, and to the author for appropriate
distribution.