Vehicles: special interest license plates: NASCAR.

Existing law authorizes private organizations to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for participation in special interest license plate programs authorized by legislation in which the department issues license plates with a participating organization's distinctive design, decal, or descriptive message and specifies the design criteria for the special license plate. Existing law requires that the organization collect and receive a minimum of 7,500 applications and fees for the special interest license plates from the date of the enactment of the legislation authorizing the special interest license plate. Existing law permits any individual to apply for an organization's special interest license plate. Existing law also 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 the specialized license plates for the program if the state agency complies with specified requirements. This bill would authorize the Bureau of Automotive Repair (bureau) to apply to the department to sponsor a program for a series of specialized NASCAR license plates that bear emblems, seals, or other symbols or designs displaying themes of professional stock car auto racing, or professional stock car auto racing drivers. The bill would require the department to issue the specialized plates if the bureau complies with existing requirements applicable to specialized license plate programs. The bill would require that the design of each specialty plate in the series be approved by the department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. The bill would authorize the department and the bureau to contract with 3rd-party vendors or the Prison Industry Authority for the manufacture, processing, and distribution of the specialized NASCAR license plates. The bill would specify that the fee for the original issuance of the specialized license plates be $60, and, for the renewal of registration with the plates, the fee would be $50. The bill would also require that these fees be distributed no less frequently than each quarter annually to the department and the bureau in specified amounts. By requiring that the fees for the original issuance and the renewal of a plate be distributed directly to the department and the bureau, the bill would make a continuous appropriation of these funds.