The School Safety Violence Protection Act establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, which is administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the purpose of providing grant funding to schools and school districts to promote school safety and violence prevention programs among children and youth in the public schools.

This bill would authorize the Superintendent to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program.

Existing law 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 specialized license plates for that program, if the state agency complies with specified requirements.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program. The bill would require that require the Department of Motor Vehicles, after deducting its administrative costs, to deposit the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates be deposited in the School Violence Prevention Fund, which the bill would establish, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the State Department of Education in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, or as determined by the State Department of Education for purposes of school violence prevention. The bill would require moneys allocated from the fund to the State Department of Education to be available for both charter and noncharter public schools.

The School Safety Violence Protection Act establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, which is administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the purpose of providing grant funding to schools and school districts to promote school safety and violence prevention programs among children and youth in the public schools.

This bill would authorize the Superintendent to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program.

Existing law 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 specialized license plates for that program, if the state agency complies with specified requirements.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program. The bill would require that the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates be deposited in the School Violence Prevention Fund, which the bill would establish, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the State Department of Education in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program. Program, or as determined by the State Department of Education for purposes of school violence prevention. The bill would require moneys allocated from the fund to the State Department of Education to be available for both charter and noncharter public schools.

The School Safety Violence Protection Act establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, which is administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the purpose of providing grant funding to schools and school districts to promote school safety and violence prevention programs among children and youth in the public schools.

This bill would authorize the Superintendent to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program.

Existing law 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 specialized license plates for that program, if the state agency complies with specified requirements.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program. The bill would require that the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates be deposited in the School Violence Prevention Fund, which the bill would establish, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the State Department of Education in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program.

The School Safety Violence Protection Act establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, which is administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the purpose of providing grant funding to schools and school districts to promote school safety and violence prevention programs among children and youth in the public schools.

This bill would authorize the Superintendent to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program.

Existing law 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 specialized license plates for that program, if the state agency complies with specified requirements.

The bill would require the State Department of Education to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program. The bill would require that the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates be deposited in the School Violence Prevention Fund, which the bill would establish, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the State Department of Education in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the programs established under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular Session

AB 63 (Bonilla) - School safety programs: funding

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

AB 63 would require the Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a school violence prevention specialized license plate program, as specified.

Fiscal Impact:

• Estimated CDE costs of $25,000 in 2015-16 for plate design, and up to $50,000 in 2016-17 for staff time to collect the initial 7,500 applications and fees for the establishment of the plate program (General Fund). These costs could continue into 2017-18 if the requisite applications and fees are not collected within the first year and CDE applies to DMV for a 12-month extension. There could be additional costs if CDE executes a marketing strategy to attract applicants. If the license plate program is implemented, CDE would incur ongoing administrative costs of approximately $119,000.
  
  

• Assuming 7,500 pre-paid applications are collected by CDE, DMV would incur initial administrative costs of $135,000 to process the applications, and an additional $440,000 in programming and other implementation costs, likely in 2017-18 or 2018-19, partially offset by pre-paid application fees of $375,000, leaving a net cost of approximately $200,000 (Motor Vehicle Account). These net costs would be reimbursed in the following fiscal year by registration renewal fees from holders of the school violence prevention plates. All ongoing costs thereafter would be fully offset by fees from renewals and issuance of new plates.
  
  

• Upon full implementation of the proposed plate program, there would be ongoing revenues of approximately $300,000 annually for use by CDE for school violence prevention programs (based on 7,500 plate renewals, and not accounting for administrative costs).
  
  

• Diversion of funding for personalizing a school violence prevention plate from the California Environmental License Plate Fund to the School Violence Prevention Fund. See staff comments.

Background:

Prior to 2007, any new special interest license plate required specific legislative authorization. This practice was held to be unconstitutional in that the Legislature approved some of the plates, and rejected others, using no standardized or objective criteria for those decisions. Current law, as enacted by AB 84 (Leslie), Ch. 454/2006, authorizes any state agency to sponsor a special interest license plate, and apply to DMV to establish a new license plate program after collecting at least 7,500 applications and accompanying fees and submitting them to DMV. The applications must be collected within one year, with an option to extend that timeframe by an additional year under specified conditions. The new specialized license plate must have a design or contain a message that publicizes or promotes a state agency, or the official policy, mission, or work of the agency.

In addition to the regular fees for an original or renewal registration, existing law requires payment of the following fees for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the specialized license plate: $50 for original issuance; $40 for renewal; $15 for transfer to another vehicle; and $35 for substitute replacement plates. Once a specialized license plate program has been implemented, all additional fee revenues associated with the plate, after subtracting DMV administrative costs, are deposited into the Specialized License Plate Fund, and made available to the sponsoring agency upon appropriation by the Legislature for projects and programs that promote the agency’s official policy, mission, or work. A sponsoring agency may not spend more than 25 percent of its license plate fee revenues for administrative, marketing, and promotional costs associated with the plate. If an applicant wishes to personalize a specialized license plate, the following additional fees would apply: $48 for original issuance, $38 for renewal, and $38 for transfer to another vehicle. Any fees paid for personalization would be deposited into the California Environmental License Plate Fund for expenditure on various environmental protection purposes.

Existing law establishes the School Safety Violence Prevention Strategy Program for the purpose of promoting school safety and violence prevention programs for grades K-7 in public schools. The Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) is required to award competitive grants to provide schools with personnel such as counselors, social workers, nurses, and psychologists; install on-campus communication devices; establish in-service training program for school staff; establish cooperative arrangements with local law enforcement agencies; or other strategies for achieving school safety and prevention of violence. Additional funding to address school safety and violence prevention was also available to school districts through the School Safety and Violence Prevention Program (school safety block grants). Both of these programs were implemented as school categorical programs. The 2009 Budget Act imposed a 20% reduction for 39 categorical programs and gave school districts the flexibility to use the funds for any educational purposes. The local control funding formula (LCFF), enacted in 2013, eliminated most categorical programs and integrated categorical program funds, including those for school safety programs, into school districts' base grants. These previous school violence prevention programs remain in statute but are no longer specifically funded.

Proposed Law:

AB 63 would require CDE to apply to DMV to sponsor a school violence prevention license plate program pursuant to the requirements of the specialized license plate program in existing law. The bill would require additional fees derived from the plate program to be deposited into the School Violence Prevention Fund, established by this bill. Revenues would be allocated to CDE, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to carry out one or more purposes of existing specified school violence prevention programs. Funds would be available to both charter and non-charter public schools.

The bill also authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention to carry out the purposes of specified existing programs.

Related Legislation:

SB 544 (DeSaulnier), which was similar to this bill, failed passage in the Assembly Education Committee in 2014.

Over the past five years, 13 bills have been introduced directing a state agency to sponsor a specialized license plate for a variety of causes, and eight of these bills were enacted. Most recently, the following four bills were signed into law in 2014: AB 49 (Buchanan), Ch. 351/2014, for breast cancer awareness; AB 1096 (Nestande), Ch. 353/2014, for Salton Sea restoration; AB 2321 (Gomez) Ch. 358/2014, for domestic violence prevention and sexual assault awareness; and AB 2450 (Logue), Ch. 359/2014, for kidney disease awareness.

There are three other specialized license plates pending in this Committee: AB 192 (Allen) would require the State Coastal Conservancy to apply to the DMV to sponsor a coastal conservancy awareness license plate program, and make specified changes to the Pet Lover’s specialized plate program; AB 270 (Nazarian) would require the Department of Public Health to apply to DMV to sponsor a diabetes awareness specialized plate program; AB 932 (Daly) would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to apply to DMV to sponsor a professional sports franchise license plate program, as specified.

Staff Comments:

As noted above, any state agency may sponsor a specialized license plate program and apply to DMV to issue the plates upon collection of 7,500 pre-paid applications without legislative action. Rather than allow CDE to sponsor a plate at its discretion, this bill would require the department to apply to DMV to sponsor a school violence prevention plate program.

As a sponsoring entity, existing law requires CDE to design a plate, apply to DMV to sponsor a plate program, and collect 7,500 pre-paid applications within 12 months. If the requisite number of applications has not been reached within a year, CDE has the option of either returning all fees and deposits to applicants, or notifying DMV that it intends to continue collection efforts to obtain the minimum 7,500 applications within the subsequent 12 months. If CDE elects to continue collection efforts, it must contact applicants who submitted applications and fees to determine whether they would prefer to continue the application or have their deposits and fees refunded. Staff notes that only two of the 12 specialized plate programs signed into law since 2000 have successfully met the minimum threshold of 7,500 pre-paid applications.

Staff estimates that CDE would incur initial costs of approximately $25,000 in 2015-16 to design the school violence prevention license plate and apply to DMV to sponsor the plate, and additional costs of up to $50,000 in 2016-17 to collect applications and fees. If 7,500 applications have not been received within 12 months of applying to DMV, CDE may incur similar costs in 2017-18 if it chooses to apply for an extension. There could be additional costs to the extent CDE implements a marketing strategy to attract applicants, although that is not an explicit requirement in the bill or current law. Staff notes that there is no requirement that CDE incur costs beyond the initial 12 month period if less than 7,500 applications have been collected. If the program is fully implemented, CDE indicates it would incur annual costs of approximately $119,000 to administer the program. This amount is likely to exceed the specified maximum of 25 percent of plate funds that may be used for administrative costs. Costs in excess of these amounts would be a General Fund expense.

All DMV costs are contingent upon receipt of 7,500 pre-paid applications, as specified above. If the requisite number of applications are not received within the specified timeframes, the school violence prevention plate program would not be implemented and there would be no further costs or revenues derived from the bill.

If the license plate program is implemented, it would generate at least $300,000 in annual revenues for school violence prevention programs (assuming the minimum 7,500 plate holders paid a $40 renewal fee). After deducting CDE’s allowable administrative costs, there would be very little funding available for grants to schools.

Existing law requires specified additional funds related to personalizing a specialized license plate must be deposited into the California Environmental License Plate Fund. This bill requires DMV to deposit all fees collected from the sale of the school violence prevention plates into the School Violence Prevention Fund, after deducting administrative costs. This would appear to result in the diversion of any revenues associated with personalization from the Environmental License Plate Fund to the new fund for expenditure by CDE.

Staff notes that the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee authored, and the Senate approved, SR 28 last year to declare a moratorium on legislation to increase the number of specialized plate types that DMV may issue until the Legislature can assess the full and long-term impacts of the ongoing increase in license plate types. The resolution requested DMV to establish a task force to study plate proliferation and make recommendations to the Legislature and Governor by July 1, 2015. That report is still pending, and the proposed moratorium has apparently not prevented new plate proposals from moving forward in the current Session.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING

Senator Jim Beall, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: AB 63 Hearing Date: 7/7/2015

SUBJECT: School safety programs: funding

DIGEST: This bill seeks to establish a specialty license plate program for school violence prevention.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law provides for a specialized license plate program, under which the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) may issue new special-interest license plates. Special-interest license plates may only be issued on behalf of state agencies and only provided that:

1. 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).

2. The state agency submits 7,500 applications and accompanying fees to DMV for the license plate. The state agency has 12 months to collect these applications and fees, but it can extend that to a maximum of 24 months if it notifies and offers to refund fees to those who applied during the first 12 months. Once a plate is issued, DMV stops issuing that plate for the agency if the number of plates drops below 7,500.

In addition to the usual registration and license fees, DMV charges the following additional fees for specialized license plates: $50 for the initial issuance, $40 for annual renewal, and $98 to personalize. DMV deducts its administrative costs from the revenues generated. The net revenues derived from a specialized license plate are then available upon appropriation for the sponsoring state agency to expend exclusively on projects and programs that promote the state agency’s official policy, mission, or work.

This bill requires the State Department of Education to apply to the DMV to create a school violence prevention specialty license plate program. Net proceeds from this program shall fund school violence prevention programs.

COMMENTS:

Purpose. According to the author, “Prior to 2010, the state provided funding for two categorical programs — the School Safety and Violence Prevention Act (school safety block grant) and the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant — to implement programs to improve school safety and reduce violence. Previously these programs were funded through categorical grants, but with the enactment of the local control funding formula, these categorical grants were integrated into school districts’ base grants and are no longer in existence. AB 63 attempts to re-establish school safety and violence prevention programs by creating a new source of direct funding derived from the sale of a specialized license plate, which will also help increase awareness of the importance of addressing youth violence and bullying.”

History of special-interest license plates. Historically, the Vehicle Code required the DMV to issue, upon legislative authorization, a special-interest license plate bearing a distinctive design or decal of a sponsoring organization to any vehicle owner that pays specified fees, provided that the sponsoring organization met certain conditions. These conditions included that the sponsor of a special-interest license plate had to collect 7,500 applications and fees for a special license plate in order to pay DMV’s costs of creating a new plate, which are approximately $375,000 or 7,500 applications times the $50 fee.

In 2004, a federal court decision, Women’s Resource Network v. Gourley, E.D. Cal 2004, F.Supp.2d, 2004 U.S. Dist., invalidated the provisions of the Vehicle Code described above. In the Gourley decision, the court declared California’s special-interest license plate statutes unconstitutional because they violated 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 the 10 special-interest license plates existing at the time of its decision to remain in use and available to new applicants, as they are today.

In response to the court decision, AB 84 (Leslie, Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006) established the current specialized license plate program to provide a forum for government speech that promotes California’s state policies. AB 84 excludes private organizations from seeking specialized license plates as a forum for private speech, and thus addresses the court’s objection. Newly created plates and the revenue they generate must publicize or promote a state agency, or the official policy, mission, or work of a state agency.

A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court may have upended the Gourley decision. On June 18, 2015, the Court issued Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, which appears to be a contrary ruling to Gourley. However, the committee needs to consult with others before providing a more definitive opinion.

Challenging track record. The track record of specialty license plates reaching the 7,500 threshold is poor. Of the 12 legislatively sponsored plates approved this century, only two have met the threshold.

Committee of second referral. The Rules Committee referred this bill to the Education Committee and to the Transportation and Housing Committee. This bill passed the Education Committee on June 24 by an 8-0 vote.

Related Legislation:

AB 192 (Allen) — establishes a coastal conservancy awareness specialized license plate. This bill is pending in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.

AB 270 (Nazarian) — establishes a diabetes awareness specialized license plate. This bill is also being heard today in this committee.

AB 932 (Daly) — establishes a professional sports specialized license plate. This bill is also being heard today in this committee.

AB 1338 (Gomez) — establishes a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness specialized license plate. This bill is also being heard today in this committee.

AB 49 (Buchanan, Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014) — requires the State Department of Health Care Services to apply to the DMV to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program.

AB 1096 (Nestande, Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014) — requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to the DMV to sponsor a Salton Sea license plate program.

AB 2321 (Gomez, Chapter 358, Statutes of 2014) — requires the Office of Emergency Services to apply to the DMV for a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness and specialty license plate program.

AB 2450 (Logue, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014) — requires the state Department of Public Health to apply to the DMV for a kidney disease awareness specialty license plate program.

AB 244 (Bonilla, Chapter 690, Statutes of 2013) — requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to apply to the DMV to sponsor a veterans’ specialty license plate program.

Assembly Votes:

Floor: 76-0

Appr: 17-0

Trans: 16-0

Ed: 6-0

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday,

July 1, 2015.)

SUPPORT:

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies

Concord Police Department

Contra Costa County Office of Education

Mental Health America of California

Stand! For Families Free of Violence

Stanislaus County Office of Education

Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson

OPPOSITION:

None received

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Carol Liu, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: AB 63

Subject: School safety programs: funding.

NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on Education, and Transportation and Housing. A “do pass” motion should include referral to the Committee on Transportation and Housing.

SUMMARY

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program to generate funds for school violence prevention programs.

BACKGROUND

Existing law:

1. Establishes the School Safety Violence Prevention Strategy Program for the purpose of promoting school safety and violence prevention programs for grades K-7 in public schools. The Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) is required to award competitive grants to provide schools with personnel such as counselors, social workers, nurses, and psychologists; install on-campus communication devices; establish in-service training program for school staff; establish cooperative arrangements with local law enforcement agencies; or other strategies for achieving school safety and prevention of violence.

(Education Code § 35294.10 and § 35294.11)

2. “Flexed” funds for numerous categorical programs, from fiscal years 2008-09 to 2014-15, and provided that those former categorical funds may be used for any educational purpose. (SB 4 of the Third Extraordinary Session, Ducheny, Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009)

3. Modified the structure of school funding by establishing the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which provides funding to local educational agencies through a base grant and a supplemental grant based on enrollment of students who are low-income, English learners, or in foster care, and additional funds based on a concentration factor for enrollment of such students. (EC § 42238.02)

4. Authorizes any state agency to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a specialized license plate program. The DMV is required to issue specialized license plates for that program if the agency complies with all statutory requirements. The DMV is prohibited from establishing a specialized license plate program for an agency until it receives 7,500 paid applications for the agency's specialized license plates. The applicant agency is required to collect and hold applications for the specialized plates and once the agency has received at least 7,500 applications, it must submit the applications, along with the necessary fees to DMV. (Vehicle Code § 5151 et seq.)

ANALYSIS

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the DMV for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program to generate funds for school violence prevention programs. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the CDE to apply to the DMV to create a specialized license plate program, and requires the CDE to comply with all of the requirements for state agencies that sponsors a specialized license plate program.
   
   

2. Establishes the School Violence Prevention Fund (Fund) in the State Treasury, and requires the DMV to deposit, after deducting its administrative costs, the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates in the Fund.
   
   

3. Requires the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the CDE to carry out one or more of the purposes for which the School Safety Violence Prevention Strategy Program was established, or another school violence prevention effort, as determined by the CDE.
   
   

4. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes for which the School Safety Violence Prevention Strategy Program was established.
   
   

5. Specifies that funds are to be available for all public schools (both traditional and charter schools).

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “Prior to 2010, the state provided funding for two categorical programs – the School Safety and Violence Prevention Act (school safety block grant) and the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant – to implement programs to improve school safety and reduce violence. Previously these programs were funded through categorical grants, but with the enactment of the local control funding formula, these categorical grants were integrated into school districts’ base grants and are no longer in existence. AB 63 attempts to re-establish school safety and violence prevention programs by creating a new source

of direct funding derived from the sale of a specialized license plate, which will also help increase awareness of the importance of addressing youth violence and bullying.”

2. Former categorical programs. As is indicated in Comment #1, the State used to provide funding for categorical programs for school safety and violence prevention. The 2009 Budget Act imposed a 20% reduction for 39 categorical programs and gave school districts the flexibility to use the funds for any educational purposes. The local control funding formula (LCFF), enacted in 2013, eliminated most categorical programs and integrated categorical program funds, including those for school safety programs, into school districts' base grants. These programs exist in statute but are no longer specifically funded. A number of bills introduced over the past few years have attempted to re-establish funding for various categorical programs. While the other bills propose to use Proposition 98 funds, this bill proposes generating funds through a specialized license plate program.
   
   

3. Determination of the use of funds. This bill requires the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the California Department of Education (CDE) to carry out one or more of the purposes for which the School Safety Violence Prevention Strategy Program was established, or another school violence prevention effort, as determined by the CDE. Therefore, this bill provides CDE with complete discretion as to which school safety efforts may be funded pursuant to this bill.
   
   

4. Specialized licensed plate program. Existing law requires at least 7,500 paid applications to be provided prior to the development of the specialized license plate by Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV); this ensures there are sufficient funds to pay for costs that will be incurred by the DMV. According to the Assembly Education Committee’s analysis of this bill, the following plates have been created pursuant to legislation: 9/11 Memorial; Coastal Commission; Tahoe Conservancy; Yosemite National Park; Arts; Veterans; and, Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids. Two plates, Two Pet Lovers and Agriculture, were developed by agencies pursuant to statutory authority, rather than through legislation.
   
   

5. Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
   
   

   1. Potential one-time special fund costs of approximately $440,000 to DMV to establish the specialized license plate program, including computer programming changes and updating forms. Pursuant to current law, DMV will make computer programming and form changes only after program applications meet a 7,500-application threshold. Therefore, the DMV will incur these costs only if it receives enough applications to require the CDE to implement the program. The DMV will incur minor ongoing costs to continue issuing specialty license plates and renewals under the program. All of the DMV's initial and ongoing costs will be covered by a portion of the additional $50 fee paid for original specialized license plates and the additional $40 fee to renew such plates.
      
      

2. Minor costs to California Department of Education (CDE) to submit the program application and license prototype to DMV, design and print the license plate application, and collect and hold applications and fees until 7,500 applications are received.
   
   

3. Potential ongoing revenue to CDE for grants to school districts, from a portion of the additional fees for new and renewed specialty license plates generated after the funding requirements are satisfied.
   
   

1. Related and prior legislation.
   
   RELATED LEGISLATION
   
   SB 257 (Bates, 2015) requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue personalized Gold Star License Plates upon payment of specified fees. SB 257 is pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee.
   
   AB 192 (Allen, 2015) requires the State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) to apply to the DMV to sponsor a coastal conservancy specialized license plate program. AB 192 is pending in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
   
   AB 270 (Nazarian) requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to apply to the DMV to sponsor a diabetes awareness, education, and research license plate program. AB 270 is pending in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
   
   AB 932 (Daly and Thurmond) requires the State Department of Parks and Recreation (SDPR) to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program using professional sport team logos. AB 932 is pending in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
   
   PRIOR LEGISLATION
   
   SB 544 (DeSaulnier, 2014) was very similar to this bill. SB 544 failed passage in the Assembly Education Committee.
   
   Over the past five years, 13 bills have been introduced directing a state agency to sponsor a specialized license plate for a variety of causes; eight of these bills were passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. Most recently, the following four bills were enacted: AB 49 (Buchanan, Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014) for breast cancer awareness, AB 1096 (Nestande, Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014) for Salton Sea restoration, AB 2321 (Gomez, Chapter 358, Statutes of 2014) for domestic violence prevention, and AB 2450 (Logue, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014) for kidney disease research.

SUPPORT

California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies

Concord Police Department

Contra Costa County Office of Education

Mental Health America of California

STAND! For Families Free of Violence

Stanislaus County Office of Education

Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department

Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson

OPPOSITION

None received.

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READIN G

ATR Bill Id:AB 63

Author:(Bonilla)

As Amended Ver:May 28, 2015

Majority vote

SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program to generate funds for school violence prevention programs. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the DMV, after deducting its administrative costs, to deposit the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates in the School Violence Prevention Fund, established by this bill.

2. Specifies that upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys in that fund shall be allocated to the CDE in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the School Safety Violence Protection Act, as specified in the Education Code on January 1, 2015, or as determined by the CDE for purposes of school violence prevention. Specifies that the moneys shall be available for both charter and noncharter public schools.

3. Requires the CDE to comply with all the requirements of the Vehicle Code that apply to a state agency sponsoring a specialized license plate program.

4. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the grant program.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Potential one-time special fund costs of approximately $440,000 to DMV to establish the specialized license plate program, including computer programming changes and updating forms. Pursuant to current law, DMV will make computer programming and form changes only after program applications meet a 7,500-application threshold. Therefore, the DMV will incur these costs only if it receives enough applications to require the CDE to implement the program. The DMV will incur minor ongoing costs to continue issuing specialty license plates and renewals under the program. All of the DMV's initial and ongoing costs will be covered by a portion of the additional $50 fee paid for original specialized license plates and the additional $40 fee to renew such plates.

2. Minor costs to CDE to submit the program application and license prototype to DMV, design and print the license plate application, and collect and hold applications and fees until 7,500 applications are received.

3. Potential ongoing revenue to CDE for grants to school districts, from a portion of the additional fees for new and renewed specialty license plates generated after the funding requirements are satisfied.

COMMENTS: Background on school safety programs. Prior to the fiscal year (FY) 2009-10, the state provided funding to two categorical programs that focus on school safety and violence prevention. The Carl Washington School Safety and Violence Prevention Act (school safety block grant) provided direct grants for local educational agencies (LEAs) to devise violence prevention strategies in schools. Funds could be used to provide schools with personnel, including counselors, social workers, nurses, and psychologists; install effective and accessible on campus communication devices; establish in-service training program for school staff to assist school staff in identifying and communicating at-risk children and youth and referring these pupils to counseling; establish cooperative arrangements with local law enforcement agencies; or for use for other strategies for achieving school safety and prevention of violence. In FY 2009-10, the program received almost $80 million.

The School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants consolidated six programs – the Safe School Planning and Partnership Mini-grants, School Community Policing, Gang-Risk Intervention Program, Safety Plan for New Schools, School Community Violence Prevention Training, and Conflict Resolution – into one program. The program received $14.3 million in FY 2009-10. These funds were also used for a contract with the Kern County Office of Education to coordinate trainings for LEAs in various regions of the state on three topics: safe school planning, crisis preparedness and response, and bullying and cyberbullying prevention and intervention.

The FY 2009-10 budget agreement imposed a 20% reduction on 39 categorical programs and gave LEAs that received those funds in FY 2007-08 the flexibility to use the funds for any educational purposes from FY 2008-09 through FY 2012-13 (SB 4 X3 (Ducheny), Chapter 12, Statutes of the 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session). This reduction and flexibility provision is commonly known as "Tier 3" flexibility, which gave LEAs $4.5 billion in additional unrestricted funds. SB 70 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011, extended categorical flexibility to FY 2014-15. The local control funding formula (LCFF), enacted in 2013, eliminated most categorical programs and integrated categorical program funds, including the Carl Washington School Safety and Violence Prevention and the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants, into school districts' base grants. These programs no longer exist.

What does this bill do? This bill attempts to generate funds for school safety and violence prevention activities through the sale of specialized license plates. This bill requires the CDE to apply to the DMV for a specialized license plate after collecting 7,500 applications. Funds generated through the sale of the license plates will be directed for the purposes established by the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, which is a competitive grant program, or other school violence prevention purposes determined by the CDE.

Specialized licensed plate program. Prior to 2007, any new specialized license plate required specific legislative authorization. That practice was held to be unconstitutional by the federal courts in that the Legislature approved some of the plates and rejected others, while using no standardized or objective criteria for those decisions. In response to the court decision, AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006, established the current specialized license plate program to provide a forum for government speech that promotes California's state policies. Specialized license plates created must publicize or promote a state agency, or the official policy, mission, or work of a state agency. AB 84 excludes private organizations from seeking specialized license plates as a forum for private speech, and thus addresses the court's objection.

At least 7,500 paid applications must be received by the state agency before the state agency can notify DMV; this is to ensure that there are sufficient funds to pay for costs that will be incurred by the DMV. According to the DMV, the following plates have been created pursuant to legislation: a) 9/11 Memorial; b) Coastal Commission; c) Tahoe Conservancy; d) Yosemite National Park; e) Arts; f) Veterans; and g) Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids. Two plates, Two Pet Lovers and Agriculture, were developed by agencies pursuant to statutory authority.

It is unclear what process the CDE will use to collect 7,500 applications, whether the CDE will be successful in collecting 7,500 applications, or how much money will be generated. A number of bills introduced over the last few years have attempted to re-establish funding for various categorical programs. While the other bills propose to use the General Fund, this bill proposes generating funds though private sources.

The author states, "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide and suicide remain the leading causes of death among youth aged 10 to 24. In addition, a recent study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that nearly 17% of school-aged children experience bullying. Nationally this equates to approximately 1.6 million children in grades 6 through 10 being bullied once a week and approximately 1.7 million children bullying other children. Much of this violence is preventable with strategies focused on identifying high-risk individuals, providing early intervention, and supporting communities, families, and those who are exposed to violence or prone to violent behavior."

Prior legislation. This bill is nearly identical to last year's SB 544 (DeSaulnier), which failed in the Assembly Education Committee due to a lack of a motion and second to move the bill. The difference is that SB 544 would have directed the funds towards both the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants and the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program. This bill only directs the funds for the latter program, mainly because the statute establishing the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants programs were repealed through SB 971 (Huff), Chapter 923, Statutes of 2014, which repealed a number of categorical programs no longer in existence due to LCFF.

Analysis Prepared by: Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000670

Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Jimmy Gomez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 63

Author:(Bonilla) – As Amended Ver:April 22, 2015

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the DMV to create a specialized license plate program to fund the purposes of the School Safety and Violence Protection Act.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Potential one-time special fund costs of approximately $440,000 to DMV to establish the specialized license plate program, including computer programming changes and updating forms. Pursuant to current law, DMV will make computer programming and form changes only after program applications meet a 7,500-application threshold. Therefore, the DMV will incur these costs only if it receives enough applications to require the CDE to implement the program. The DMV will incur minor ongoing costs to continue issuing specialty license plates and renewals under the program. All of the DMV's initial and ongoing costs will be covered by a portion of the additional $50 fee paid for original specialized license plates and the additional $40 fee to renew such plates.

2. Minor costs to CDE to submit the program application and license prototype to DMV, design and print the license plate application, and collect and hold applications and fees until 7,500 applications are received.

3. Potential ongoing revenue to CDE for grants to school districts, from a portion of the additional fees for new and renewed specialty license plates generated after the funding requirements in (1) are satisfied.

COMMENTS:

1. Specialized License Plates. Prior to 2007, any new special interest license plate required specific legislative authorization. This practice was held to be unconstitutional in that the Legislature approved some of the plates, and rejected others, using no standardized or objective criteria for those decisions. Pursuant to AB 84 (Leslie)/Statutes of 2006, the DMV will issue specialized license plates when sponsored by a state agency, the plate's message and resulting revenues support that agency's program, and at least 7,500 paid license applications have been received. The 7,500-application threshold attempts to assure that DMV's startup costs are fully covered, by the portion of the registration fee surcharge directed to the department, and to avoid a proliferation of different types of plates, which can be troublesome from a law enforcement perspective.

2. Purpose. Youth violence is a problem that has serious social, emotional, physical, and economic consequences. Bullying, which has been linked to youth homicides and suicides, is also on the rise in California. In fact, a recent survey administered by CDE found that one in three middle school and high school students in California report having been harassed or bullied at least once in the previous year.

The author indicates that the state had provided categorical funding for grants to help raise awareness about and prevent violence, and improve school safety. With enactment of the local control funding formula, however, these grants are no longer in existence. AB 63 attempts to fund these violence prevention programs by creating a new and direct source of funding derived from the sale of youth violence prevention specialized license plates.

3. Prior Legislation. AB 544 (DeSaulnier) of 2014, a substantially similar bill, failed in Assembly Education due to lack of a motion.

Over the past five years, 13 bills have been introduced directing a state agency to sponsor a specialized license plate for a variety of causes, and eight of these bills were passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. Most recently, in 2014, the following four bills were enacted: AB 49 (Buchanan)/Chapter 351, for breast cancer awareness, AB 1096 (Nestande)/Chapter 353) for Salton Sea restoration, AB 2321 (Gomez)/Chapter 358, for domestic violence prevention, and AB 2450 (Logue), for kidney disease research.

Analysis Prepared by: Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 13, 2015

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Jim Frazier, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 63

Author:(Bonilla) – As Amended April 7, 2015Ver:

SUBJECT: School safety programs: funding

SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to create a specialized license plate program to generate funds for school violence prevention programs. Specifically, this bill:

1. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the grant program.

2. Requires CDE to apply to DMV to create a specialized license plate program.

3. Requires that the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates to be deposited in the School Violence Prevention Fund, established by this bill in the State Treasury.

4. Requires the moneys in that fund to be allocated to the CDE in order to carry out the purposes of the School Safety Violence Protection Act, as specified in the Education Code on January 1, 2004, or as determined by the CDE for school violence prevention.

5. Requires the CDE to comply with all the requirements of a state agency sponsoring a specialized license plate program.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Allows any state agency to apply to DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program.

2. Requires DMV to issue specialized license plates for that program if the agency complies with all statutory requirements.

3. Prohibits DMV from establishing a specialized license plate program for an agency until it receives 7,500 paid applications for the agency's specialized license plates.

4. Requires the agency to collect and hold applications for the specialized plates and once the agency has received at least 7,500 applications, it must submit the applications, along with the necessary fees to DMV.

5. Prohibits advance payment to DMV of its estimated or actual administrative costs associated with issuing a specialized license plate from constituting compliance with the 7,500 application threshold requirement.

6. Requires funds accruing to a sponsoring state agency from the sale of specialized license plates to be expended exclusively for projects and programs that promote that agency's official policy, mission, or work.

7. Allows specialized license plates to feature a distinctive design, decal, or distinctive message in a two-inch by three-inch space to the left of the plate's numerical sequence and a space not larger than 5/8-inch in height below the numerical series.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS: Prior to 2007, any new specialized license plate required specific legislative authorization. That practice was held to be unconstitutional by the federal courts in that the Legislature approved some of the plates and rejected others, while using no standardized or objective criteria for those decisions. In response to the court decision, AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006, established the current specialized license plate program to provide a forum for government speech that promotes California's state policies. AB 84 excludes private organizations from seeking specialized license plates as a forum for private speech, and thus addresses the court's objection.

Plates now created and the revenue they generate must publicize or promote a state agency, or the official policy, mission, or work of a state agency. Furthermore, the process requires that at least 7,500 paid applications be received by the state agency prior to notifying DMV. The 7,500-application threshold was put into statute for specialized license plates was arrived at in an attempt to assure that DMV's startup costs would be fully covered by the portion of the registration fee surcharge that is directed to DMV and to avoid a proliferation of different types of plates, which can be troublesome from a law enforcement perspective.

Youth violence is a problem that has serious social, emotional, physical, and economic consequences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the leading cause of death among youth aged 10-to 24 is the result of homicide or suicide, yet much of this violence is preventable through early intervention and support for communities, families, and those who are exposed to violence or prone to violent behavior. Bullying, which has been linked to youth homicides and suicides, is also on the rise in California. In fact, a recent survey administered by CDE found that one in three middle school and high school students in California report having been harassed or bullied at least once in the previous year.

The author reports that in the past, the state provided funding for grants to help raise awareness about and prevent violence and improve school safety. The author notes that grants (School Safety and Violence Prevention Act and School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant) were funded through categorical grants, but with the enactment of the local control funding formula, these grants are no longer in existence.

AB 63 attempts to fund these violence prevention programs by creating a new and direct source of funding derived from the sale of youth violence prevention specialized license plates. Specifically, the bill would require CDE to apply to the DMV for sponsorship of the specialized plate and that the fees collected from the sale of the plates be deposited into the School Violence Prevention Fund that is also established by this bill. The author notes that the programs that would be funded by the sale of the specialized plates may include, but are not necessarily limited to, bullying and cyberbullying intervention, school community policing, safe school planning, crisis preparedness and response, gang risk intervention, school personnel training and other programs and services or resources approved by CDE

SB 544 (DeSaulnier), which would have established a similar specialized license plate (as well as directed funds towards both the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants and the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program), passed out of this committee on a 10-3 vote but failed in the Assembly Education Committee due to a lack of a motion and a second to move the bill. The Assembly Education Committee members believed the bill violated SR 28 (Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing), adopted on April 10, 2014, which declared a moratorium on legislation proposing to establish new license plate types until the Legislature could assess the impact of ongoing increase in specialized license plates. According to the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee staff, the moratorium was directed at licensed plates that did not meet existing statutory requirements for specialized license plates and therefore did not apply to SB 544.

Double-referral: This bill passed out the Assembly Education Committee on March 25, 2015, with a 6-0 vote.

Related legislation: AB 270 (Nazarian), which requires the Department of Public Health to apply to the DMV to sponsor a diabetes awareness, education, and research license plate program recently passed out of this committee and is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 932 (Daly and Thurmond), requires an unspecified state agency to apply to the DMV to sponsor a professional sports franchise license plate program. AB 932 recently passed out of this committee and is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee.

Previous legislation: SB 544 (DeSaulnier) of 2014, was similar to this bill in that it would have directed funds towards both the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants and the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program. SB 544 was held in the Assembly Education Committee.

SR 28 (Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing) of 2014, requested that the DMV create a task force made up of DMV, CHP, and local law enforcement to study and make recommendations by July 1, 2015, on license plate designs appropriate for traffic safety and effective law enforcement in today’s environment; declares a moratorium on legislation to increase the number of license plate types that DMV may issue until the Legislature can assess the full and long-term impact of the ongoing increase in license plate types. The bill applied only to specialized license plates that did not conform to existing statutory requirements for the specialized license plate program.

AB 49 (Buchanan), Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014, required the Department of Health Care Services to apply to the DMV to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program.

AB 84 (Leslie), Chapter 454, Statutes of 2006, established a specialized license plate program for plates that promote state agencies.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies

Concord Police Department

Contra Costa County Office of Education

Mental Health America of California

Stanislaus County Office of Education

Stanislaus County Sheriffs’ Department

STAND! For Families Free of Violence

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093

Date of Hearing: March 25, 2015

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Patrick O'Donnell, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 63

Author:(Bonilla) – As Introduced Ver:December 15, 2014

[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Transportation Committee and will be heard by that Committee as it relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]

SUBJECT: School safety programs: funding

SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for the purpose of creating a specialized license plate program to generate funds for school violence prevention programs. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the fees collected from the sale of the specialized license plates to be deposited in the School Violence Prevention Fund, established by this bill.

2. Requires the moneys in that fund to be allocated to the CDE in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the School Safety Violence Protection Act, as specified in the Education Code on January 1, 2004, or as determined by the CDE for purposes of school violence prevention.

3. Requires the CDE to comply with all the requirements of the Vehicle Code that apply to a state agency sponsoring a specialized license plate program.

4. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to consult with the Board of State and Community Corrections, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Public Health on school violence prevention and intervention in order to carry out one or more of the purposes of the grant program.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the School Safety Violence Protection Act and the School Safety Violence Prevention Strategy Program for the purpose of promoting school safety and violence prevention programs among children and youth in public schools. Requires the SPI to award competitive grants used to provide schools with personnel, including counselors, social workers, nurses, and psychologists; install on-campus communication devices; establish in-service training program for school staff; establish cooperative arrangements with local law enforcement agencies; or other strategies for achieving school safety and prevention of violence.

2. Specifies that for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008-09 to FY 2014-15, specified categorical program funds may be used for any educational purposes.

3. Establishes the local control funding formula (LCFF), which provides funding to local educational agencies (LEAs) through a base grant and a supplemental grant, and additional funds based on a concentration factor.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS: Background on school safety programs. Prior to the FY 2009-10 school year, the state provided funding to two categorical programs that focus on school safety and violence prevention. The Carl Washington School Safety and Violence Prevention Act (school safety block grant) provided direct grants for LEAs to devise violence prevention strategies in schools. Funds could be used to provide schools with personnel, including counselors, social workers, nurses, and psychologists; install effective and accessible on campus communication devices; establish in-service training program for school staff to assist school staff in identifying and communicating at-risk children and youth and referring these pupils to counseling; establish cooperative arrangements with local law enforcement agencies; or for use for other strategies for achieving school safety and prevention of violence. In FY 2009-10, the program received almost $80 million.

The School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants consolidated six programs – the Safe School Planning and Partnership Mini-grants, School Community Policing, Gang-Risk Intervention Program, Safety Plan for New Schools, School Community Violence Prevention Training, and Conflict Resolution – into one program. The program received $14.3 million in FY 2009-10. These funds were also used for a contract with the Kern County Office of Education to coordinate trainings for LEAs in various regions of the state on three topics: safe school planning, crisis preparedness and response, and bullying and cyberbullying prevention and intervention.

The FY 2009-10 budget agreement imposed a 20% reduction on 39 categorical programs and gave LEAs that received those funds in FY 2007-08 the flexibility to use the funds for any educational purposes from FY 2008-09 through FY 2012-13 (SBX3 4 (Ducheny), Chapter 12, Statutes of the 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session). This reduction and flexibility provision is commonly known as "Tier 3" flexibility, which gave LEAs $4.5 billion in additional unrestricted funds. SB 70 (Budget Committee), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011, extended categorical flexibility to FY 2014-15. The LCFF, enacted in 2013, eliminated most categorical programs and integrated categorical program funds, including the Carl Washington School Safety and Violence Prevention and the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants, into school districts' base grants. These programs no longer exist.

What does this bill do? This bill attempts to generate funds for school safety and violence prevention activities through the sale of specialized license plates. The bill requires the CDE to apply to the DMV for a specialized license plate after collecting 7,500 applications. Funds generated through the sale of the license plates will be directed for the purposes established by the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program, which is a competitive grant program, or other school violence prevention purposes determined by the CDE.

The Vehicle Code authorizes state agencies to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized licensed plate program. Specialized license plates created must publicize or promote a state agency, or the official policy, mission, or work of a state agency. At least 7,500 paid applications must be received by the state agency before the state agency can notify DMV; this is to ensure that there are sufficient funds to pay for costs that will be incurred by the DMV. It is unclear what process the CDE will use to collect 7,500 applications, whether the CDE will be successful in collecting 7,500 applications, or how much money will be generated.

A number of bills introduced over the last few years have attempted to re-establish funding for various categorical programs. While the other bills propose to use the General Fund, this bill proposes generating funds though private sources.

The author states, "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide and suicide remain the leading causes of death among youth aged 10 to 24. In addition, a recent study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that nearly 17% of school-aged children experience bullying. Nationally this equates to approximately 1.6 million children in grades 6 through 10 being bullied once a week and approximately 1.7 million children bullying other children. Much of this violence is preventable with strategies focused on identifying high-risk individuals, providing early intervention, and supporting communities, families, and those who are exposed to violence or prone to violent behavior."

According to the DMV, the following plates have been created pursuant to legislation:

• 9-11 Memorial

• Coastal Commission

• Tahoe Conservancy

• Yosemite National Park

• Arts

• Veterans

• Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids

Two plates, Two Pet Lovers and Agriculture, were developed by agencies pursuant to statutory authority.

Questions the Committee may wish to consider:

1. Does this bill re-create a categorical program?

2. Is it inconsistent with the LCFF?

3. Would establishing a licensed plate that focuses on violence prevention present a negative impression of schools?

4. What are the administrative costs to the CDE and what is the source of funds to pay for those administrative costs?

Committee amendment. It is unclear why the bill references the code section in print on January 1, 2004. Staff recommends changing the reference to January 1, 2015.

Prior legislation. This bill is nearly identical to last year's SB 544 (DeSaulnier), which was held in the Assembly Education Committee. The difference is that SB 544 would have directed the funds towards both the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants and the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program. This bill only directs the funds for the latter program, mainly because the statute establishing the School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grants programs were repealed through SB 971 (Huff), Chapter 923, Statutes of 2014, which repealed a number of categorical programs no longer in existence due to LCFF.

SB 544 passed the Assembly Transportation Committee on a 10-3 vote but failed in this Committee due to a lack of a motion and a second to move the bill. Members of the Committee believed the bill violated SR 28, a resolution authored by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing adopted on April 10, 2014 declaring a moratorium on legislation proposing to establish new license plate types until the Legislature can assess the impact of ongoing increase in specialized license plates. According to the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee staff, the moratorium was directed at licensed plates that differ from the normal specialized licensed plate styles.

Related legislation. AB 270 (Nazarian), pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee, requires the Department of Public Health to apply to the DMV to sponsor a diabetes awareness, education, and research license plate program.

AB 932 (Daly and Thurmond), pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee, requires an unspecified state agency to apply to the DMV to sponsor a professional sports franchise license plate program.

Prior related legislation. AB 49 (Buchanan), Chapter 351, Statutes of 2014, requires the Department of Health Care Services to apply to the DMV to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program.

AB 1096 (Nestande), Chapter 353, Statutes of 2014, requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to the DMV to sponsor a Salton Sea license plate program.

AB 2321 (Gomez), Chapter 358, Statutes of 2014, requires the Office of Emergency Services to apply to the DMV to sponsor a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness license plate program.

AB 2450 (Logue), Chapter 359, Statutes of 2014, requires the Department of Public Health to apply to DMV to sponsor a kidney disease awareness license plate program.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Adam Christianson, Stanislaus County Sheriff-Coroner

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Concord Police Department

Contra Costa County Office of Education

Stanislaus County Office of Education

STAND! For Families Free of Violence

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087