Bill Text: CA AB3243 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Vehicle registration fees: penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB3243 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB3243-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 03, 2024 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Ta |
February 16, 2024 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would, until January 1, 2026, require the department to accept, in full satisfaction of all delinquent vehicle registration fees, 20% of the total outstanding registration amount for any applicant if specified criteria are met. The bill would, for eligible participants, waive all applicable late fees and penalties, among other things, associated with delinquent vehicle registration and planned nonoperation of vehicles, as
specified.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 4604.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:4604.5.
(a) (1) If the vehicle has not been operated, moved, or left standing upon any highway subsequent to the expiration of the vehicle’s registration, the certification specified in Section 4604 or 4604.2 may be filed after the expiration of the registration of a vehicle, but not later than 90 days after the expiration date, subject to the payment of the filing fee specified in Section 4604 and the penalty specified in paragraph (2).(c)
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the DMV AFFORD Act.
The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a)The average cost of registering a vehicle in California has increased 66 percent over the past six years and is currently $289.
(b)Failure to register by the due date results in immediate late fees and penalties that increase over time. Once payment is delinquent for two years, the average registration of $289 more than doubles to over $600.
(c)According to the Franchise Tax Board, approximately 4,000,000 vehicle registration accounts become delinquent every year, and nearly
1,400,000 Californians annually face wage garnishment or the involuntary withdrawal of funds from their bank accounts to collect debt on behalf of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(d)Vehicles with delinquent registrations may also be impounded and sold to collect the debt.
(e)Californians with delinquent registration fees remain liable for the debt through civil action even if they sell or transfer the vehicle.
(f)Evidence demonstrates that providing low-income Californians with a reduced debt payment option can actually increase the amount of revenue collected. An analysis of data from a recent amnesty program for traffic ticket debt by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
showed that the amnesty program collected over three times more delinquent debt per case than other criminal court-ordered delinquent debt collections.
(g)A one-time registration debt forgiveness program for low-income Californians would achieve all of the following:
(1)Provide protection to low-income individuals from wage garnishment, bank levies, and vehicle impoundment due to delinquent vehicle registrations.
(2)Provide increased revenue at a time when the Motor Vehicle Account is running an operating deficit by encouraging payment of old fees that have remained unpaid and are otherwise unlikely to be collected.
(3)Improve air quality by
bringing currently unregistered vehicles back into compliance with the motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program, commonly known as the smog check program.
(a)The Amnesty for Forgiveness of Registration Debt (AFFORD) program is hereby established as a one-time debt forgiveness initiative administered by the department for low-income individuals.
(b)The department shall accept, in full satisfaction of all delinquent registration fees, 20 percent of the total outstanding registration amount for any applicant if the following criteria are met:
(1)The applicant has been determined to have an eligible income level as described in subdivision (c) of Section 14902.
(2)The initial due date for payment
of vehicle registration was on or before January 1, 2022.
(c)For eligible participants in the program, the department shall:
(1)Waive all applicable late fees and penalties imposed pursuant to Section 9554.
(2)Allow participants to file the certification described in subdivision (a) of Section 4604 later than 90 days after the registration expiration date and waive all applicable late fees and penalties imposed pursuant to Section 4604.5.
(3)Lift any registration holds imposed pursuant to Sections 4760 and 4770. The lifting of a registration hold imposed pursuant to Sections 4760 and 4770 does not waive any delinquent parking penalties, administration
fees, or toll evasion penalties but the department shall not require payment of the penalties and fees as a condition of registration.
(4)Suspend any wage garnishments, bank levies, or offsets for the collection of delinquent registration fees and late penalties imposed pursuant to Section 10878 of the Revenue and Taxation Code or Section 12419.5 of the Government Code.
(d)Funds collected pursuant to this section shall be distributed in the same manner as a registration paid in full, with each individual charge reduced by an equivalent percentage.
(e)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.