republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/sb-1399.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Department of Motor Vehicles: license plate alternatives pilot program."
description: "Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue license plates for vehicles, as specified, and authorizes the department to issue one or more stickers, tabs, or other suitable devices in lieu of the license plates, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the department to establish a pilot program, to be completed no later than January 1, 2017, to evaluate the use of alternatives to stickers, tabs, license plates, and registration cards, subject to certain requirements, and to report the results of the pilot program, as specified, to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2018."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 1399"
citation: "California SB 1399 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Department of Motor Vehicles: license plate alternatives pilot program."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hueso"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2016-02-19"
last_action: "2016-08-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8965ab3e-9ef1-42c8-a557-fee09c2f3653"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399"
source_hash: "0acb6ab3d784c865a4f0222878f3db8b93ebba407972aef19ee3134b72328374"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 1399 (20152016) — Department of Motor Vehicles: license plate alternatives pilot program.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue license plates for vehicles, as specified, and authorizes the department to issue one or more stickers, tabs, or other suitable devices in lieu of the license plates, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the department to establish a pilot program, to be completed no later than January 1, 2017, to evaluate the use of alternatives to stickers, tabs, license plates, and registration cards, subject to certain requirements, and to report the results of the pilot program, as specified, to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2018.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/19/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399&version=20150SB139999INT)
2. **04/11/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399&version=20150SB139998AMD)
3. **04/26/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399&version=20150SB139997AMD)
4. **08/19/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399&version=20150SB139995CHP)
5. **SB1399** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399)
6. **08/05/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1399&version=20150SB139996ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Consent Calendar 2nd — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 1399 Hueso Consent Calendar Second Day — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **15–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hueso — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-19** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2016-02-22** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
- **2016-02-22** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2016-03-10** Referred to Com. on T. & H. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-11** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on T. & H. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-04-12** Set for hearing April 19.
- **2016-04-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 3617.) (April 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-04-22** Set for hearing May 2.
- **2016-04-26** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-02** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2016-05-03** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-05** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 3776.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-05-05** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2016-05-12** Referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-29** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (June 29). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-06-30** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-04** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 5721.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-04** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2016-08-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 10 a.m.
- **2016-08-19** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-08-19** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 155, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8965ab3e-9ef1-42c8-a557-fee09c2f3653`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).