AB 84 (Leslie/Laird) License Plate Bill passes Senate Transportation Committee

State Capitol, Sacramento, CA —

Tuesday at approximately 6:35 p.m. AB 84 passed the Senate Transportation Committee with nine votes in favor out of thirteen committee members.

Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board member and former State Senator Byron Sher and Elizabeth Martin of The Sierra Fund, as well as representatives from the Trust for Public Land, the Sierra Casacde Land Trust Council and the California Counil of Lant Trusts spoke in favor of the bill at the hearing.

This bill, introduced in 2005 by Assemblymembers Tim Leslie and John Laird, passed with strong bi-partisan support in the Assembly. Approval of new specialty license plates such as the ones already in existence for the Tahoe Conservancy and Coastal Conservancy was suspended in early 2004 by an order of the California State Supreme Court, until the Legislature created a more constitutionally correct and clear set of guidelines. This bill creates an appropriate remedy for this problem.

DMV withdrew their previous opposition to the bill in response to amendments addressing concerns they raised, including: deleting the provision that non-profit organizations may be hired by the state agency to run a license plate program; prohibiting state agencies from purchasing specialty license plates for exempt vehicles; deleting local agencies from eligibility; and removing the urgency clause.

AB 84 is sponsored by The Sierra Fund, and endorsed by:

Sierra Nevada Alliance

Sierra Cascade Land Trust Council

Mono Lake Committee

South Yuba River Citizens League

Rural Quality Coalition

Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch

Save Our Historic Canals

Mountain Meadows Conservancy

Alpine Watershed Group

Restore Hetch Hetchy

League to Save Lake Tahoe

Friends of Deer Creek

SVRA Advocates for Smart Growth

Wild Places

CalTrout

Jumping Frog Institute

River Ridge Ranch Institute

Mountain Lion Foundation

Environment California

Planning and Conservation League

Sierra Buttes/Lakes Basin Coalition

Nevada County Land Trust

Trust for Public Land

Shasta Land Trust

Sierra Club

City of Nevada City

City of Grass Valley

City of Truckee

City of Auburn

Alpine County

Mono County

Placer County

Sierra County Sheriff Lee Adams

CA/Nevada Operating Engineers

Sierra Heritage Magazine

Coldwell Banker/Grassroots Realty

North Star Printing

Yuba Docs Medical Group

Sierra Business Council

Mariposans for the Environment & Responsible Government

Global CINRG, Inc.

Placer Land Trust

Feather River Land Trust

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Northstar Printing

Sugar Bowl

Sorensen’s Resort

KVMR Radio

For further information, please contact Izzy Martin at The Sierra Fund 530-265-8454 X11 or izzy.martin@sierrafund.org

To reserve your license plate, please pre-register at: http://www.sierralicenseplate.org/