Vehicles: license plates: 8-letter license plates.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific fee amounts or the number of expected plates to be issued.

8-Letter License Plates for California

AB-1091 establishes an '8-letter license plate' program that raises money for open space and recreation by allowing drivers to pay extra fees for plates with eight characters.

What This Bill Does

• Establishes a new fund called the Natural and Agricultural Open Space and State Recreational Support Fund.
• Allows drivers to get license plates with eight letters or numbers instead of the usual format.
• Requires drivers who want these special plates to pay extra fees for them.
• Uses money from these fees to support open space programs, assist California fairs, and fund parks.

Who It Names or Affects

• Drivers in California who want special license plates with eight characters.
• The Department of Motor Vehicles which will issue the new plates.
• People or organizations that benefit from funding for open spaces and state recreation.

Terms To Know

Environmental License Plates

Special license plates that drivers can get by paying extra fees, with money going to a specific fund.

Subventions

Money given by the government to support programs or activities.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much the new fees for special plates will be.
• It is unclear if all drivers will want these eight-character license plates.
• There are no details on how many plates might be issued under this program.

Official Summary Text

AB 1091, as amended, Gallagher.
Eight-digit license plates.
Vehicles: license plates: 8-letter license plates.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue or renew environmental license plates to provide revenue for the California Environmental License Plate Fund that indicate on the plates the combination of letters or numbers, or both, requested as a registration number by the applicant, to be displayed on the applicant’s vehicle in lieu of regular license plates. Existing law imposes fees for the issuance or renewal of an environmental license plate, in addition to the regular registration and renewal fees. Existing law also establishes procedures for the cancellation, transfer, or retention of the environmental license plates and requires the payment or reimbursement of additional fees in connection with those transactions, as specified.
This
bill would establish a similar program, to be known as the “8-letter license plate” program, for the support of the Natural and Agricultural Open Space and State Recreational Support Fund, which would be created by the bill. The bill would impose additional fees, including, but not limited to, fees for the issuance and renewal of an 8-letter license plate, as specified. The bill would require all revenue derived from the fees to be deposited in the fund and would continuously appropriate those moneys for specified purposes that include, among other things, subventions for open-space land programs, assistance to California fairs, and support of programs administered by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon registering a vehicle, to issue to the owner two partially or fully reflectorized license plates and prescribes the dimensions of the plates, the dimensions of the characters, and the minimum spacing between characters.
This bill would, notwithstanding those requirements, authorize a license plate to have eight characters.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF