Vehicles: license plates: veterans.

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 department's 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 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.