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Bills

SB 1357: Vehicles: license plates: veterans.

  • Session Year: 2017-2018
  • House: Senate
Version:

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue special license plates under a special interest license plate program, as specified, and authorizes organizations, including veterans organizations, to participate in that program. Existing law authorizes any person who is the registered owner or lessee of a vehicle to apply for a special interest license plate that has a distinctive design or decal that honors all veterans or veterans who served in a particular war or armed conflict. Under existing law, these special interest license plates are subject to fees for issuance, renewal, or personalization that are additional to those required for nonspecialized license plates. Existing law requires that the revenue from those additional fees, less the departments costs, be deposited in the Veterans Service Office Fund, and further requires that money in the Veterans Service Office Fund be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Veterans Affairs for allocation and disbursement to counties for the operation of county veterans service offices.

This bill would require, no later than November 11, 2019, the Department of Veterans Affairs to adopt, and the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement, 2 descriptive messages as part of the distinctive design for specialized plates for veterans, which would consist of Honoring Veterans and Veteran. The bill would authorize the Veteran message to be issued only to an applicant who meets the eligibility standards required to have a veteran designation on his or her drivers license or identification card, as specified. The bill would require the departments to establish a process for documenting that eligibility. The bill would require the department to issue the special interest license plates with the Veteran message without regard to the number of applications received for it. The bill would appropriate $250,000 from the Veterans Service Office Fund to the department for the purpose of developing and implementing the issuance of these special interest license plates.

This bill would instead require, commencing January 1, 2019, the Department of Motor Vehicles to cease production of the special interest veteran license plates and decals described above. The bill would require, commencing January 1, 2019, the department to commence production of a special interest license plate with the descriptive message Veteran. The bill would authorize the special interest license plates bearing the descriptive message Veteran to be issued only after all remaining special interest veteran plates produced before January 1, 2019, have been issued. The bill would apply the existing additional fees for issuance, renewal, or personalization of the special interest veteran license plates to the new special interest license plates produced commencing January 1, 2019.

Discussed in Hearing

Senate Floor1MIN
May 30, 2018

Senate Floor

Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations4MIN
May 7, 2018

Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations

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SB 1357: Vehicles: license plates: veterans. | Digital Democracy