Specialized license plates: support services.

Existing law establishes a specialized license plate program and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue specialized license plates if a sponsoring state agency meets certain requirements. Existing law requires that the DMV charge specified additional fees for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of specialized license plates, and requires the DMV to deposit the fees, less the DMV's costs, into the Specialized License Plate Fund. Existing law requires that moneys in the fund be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each sponsoring agency in proportion to the amount that is attributable to the agency's specialized license plate program. Existing law requires the sponsoring state agency to use these moneys to fund projects and programs that promote the state agency's official policy, mission, or work, except as specified. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to apply to the DMV to sponsor a housing supportive services specialized license plate program, as specified. The bill would establish the Housing Supportive Services Account in the Specialized License Plate Fund and would, notwithstanding the fee provisions described above, require the DMV to deposit fees for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the housing supportive services license plates in that account. The bill would require funds in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be used by the Department of Housing and Community Development to fund the supportive services to the targeted populations served by the Housing for a Healthy California program. Existing law, with certain exceptions, imposes certain design criteria for specialized license plates, including, among other things, that the license plate provide a space not larger than 2 inches by 3 inches to the left of the numerical series and a space not larger than58 of an inch in height below the numerical series for a distinctive design, decal, or descriptive message. This bill, notwithstanding these provisions, would authorize the inclusion of the hashtag symbol within the alpha-numeric sequence of the license plate for purposes of the housing supportive services license plate, as specified. The bill would authorize an applicant for a housing supportive services specialized license plate to request a specialized license plate character sequence determined by the applicant that includes the hashtag symbol, as specified. The bill would require DMV to cooperate with representatives of the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the Prison Industry Authority to design the final shape and dimension of the symbol for these license plates.