BILL NUMBER: AB 1884INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Harper (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gallagher and Olsen) (Coauthor: Senator Cannella) FEBRUARY 11, 2016 An act to add Section 5166 to the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1884, as introduced, Harper. Specialized license plates: mental health awareness. Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the DMV is required to issue those license plates if the agency meets certain requirements. Existing law also requires the DMV to charge specified fees for certain services related to the issuance of those plates. This bill would require the Mental Health Services Division, within the State Department of Health Care Services, to apply to the DMV to sponsor a mental health awareness license plate program, and would require the DMV to issue the license plates if the Mental Health Services Division meets certain requirements. The bill would also establish the Mental Health Awareness Fund in the State Treasury and would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in the fund for use, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the Mental Health Services Division, for mental health awareness and education. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 5166 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read: 5166. (a) The Mental Health Services Division, within the State Department of Health Care Services, shall apply to the department, pursuant to Section 5156, to sponsor a mental health awareness license plate program. The department shall issue specialized license plates for that program if the Mental Health Services Division complies with the requirements of this article. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 5157, the additional fees prescribed by Section 5157 for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the specialized license plates shall be deposited, after the department deducts its administrative costs, in the Mental Health Awareness Fund, which is hereby established in the State Treasury. The funds in the account shall be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the Mental Health Services Division, for mental health awareness and education. (c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department, in consultation with the Mental Health Services Division, will design and make available for issuance pursuant to this article special mental health awareness license plates. Specifically, it is the intent of the Legislature that the license plates issued pursuant to this section consist of a lime green mental health awareness ribbon to the left of the numerical series and a mental health awareness message, such as "Mental Health Matters," below the numerical series.