Vehicles: vehicle license fees.

Existing law requires the amount appropriated by the Legislature for the use of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Franchise Tax Board for the enforcement of the Vehicle License Fee Law to be calculated as specified and transferred from the Motor Vehicle License Fee Account in the Transportation Tax Fund to the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund. This bill would allocate to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) , from the amount calculated under this provision, $25,000,000 for the 2011–12 fiscal year and would deem that amount as the cost to the DMV for the collection of the motor vehicle license fee. The bill would increase the amount allocated to the DMV for subsequent fiscal years by the growth rate in the California Consumer Price Index, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Finance to report to the Legislature if the amount allocated in a fiscal year is insufficient to cover the costs incurred by the DMV and to propose budget changes to address the funding shortfall. The bill would instead require that the balance of the amount calculated under these provisions that is not allocated for the support of the DMV or to the Franchise Tax Board be deposited into Local Revenue Fund 2011. Existing law requires the DMV to charge a registration fee of $31 on every vehicle or trailer coach, as specified. This bill would require the DMV, on July 1, 2011, and thereafter, to charge a registration fee of $43 on every vehicle or trailer coach, as specified. This bill would appropriate $1,000 from the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund to the Department of Motor Vehicles for administrative cost, thereby making an appropriation. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. Governor Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on December 6, 2010. Governor Brown issued a proclamation on January 20, 2011, declaring and reaffirming that a fiscal emergency exists and stating that his proclamation supersedes the earlier proclamation for purposes of that constitutional provision. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared and reaffirmed by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 20, 2011, pursuant to the California Constitution. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.