California company pushing for introduction of digital license plates in florida

​Under current law, inmates working for PRIDE Enterprises manufactures license plates and validation stickers for DHSMV and DHSMV is not required to obtain competitive bids in order to contract them. The Legislature created Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE) in 1981 as a private, non-profit corporation to lease and manage the state prison industries program.
CS/HB 695 by the Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee and Representative Nick Duran (R-Miami) and the companion bill, SB 862, filed by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) are being pushed by lobbyists Cory Guzzo and Jorge Chamizo of Floridian Partners on behalf of California based ReviverMX, Inc. Lobbyist compensation reports for the latest reported quarter showed that the  lobbying firm was paid $560,000 in legislative lobbying pay and another $390,000 in executive branch earnings for a combined total of $950,000, according to a summary provided by Florida Politics.  Their other clients include Avail, Florida Internet & Television, Liberty Mutual Group, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, the Florida Insurance Council, Gulf Power, TECO Energy, Anheuser-Busch, HP,  U.S. Sugar, the Florida Realtors and Magellan Health.

Senator Joe Gruters (left)

​Senator Joe Gruters was elected to the Senate in 2018, after having served in the House from 2016-2018. He is a CPA and was educated at USF and FSU. He was reelected Florida GOP chair in January, and Sarasota County Commissioner Christian Ziegler was reelected party vice chair. He co-chaired Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign in Florida before taking over as Florida GOP chair in 2019 and helping the president carry the state in 2020.
Representative Nick Duran is a nonprofit executive director for the Florida Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and was educated at UF and New York Law School. He was elected to the House in 2016.
The Digital License Plate bill proposes to eliminate DHSMV’s current authority to evaluate alternative license plates through a pilot program and formally creates the Digital License Plate Pilot Program. Beginning July 1, 2021, DHSMV must administer the pilot program, which is limited to the installation of digital license plates on government-owned motor vehicles. By July 1, 2022, DHSMV must allow any motor vehicle registered in Florida to be equipped with a digital license plate in lieu of a physical license plate. 
The bill authorizes DHSMV to contract with one or more digital license plate providers, and DHSMV may authorize the display of a plate number and validation sticker on a digital license plate. DHSMV may authorize the use of digital license plates for toll collection, if approved by the Department of Transportation or other appropriate tolling authority, and parking permits. DHSMV may establish procedures for displaying emergency alerts, static logo displays, and other displays on the license plate. The bill defines the term “digital license plate provider” as a person or an entity engaged in the business of providing digital license plate hardware and services to motor vehicles.

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​The current version of the bill now requires that, before purchasing a digital license plate, the vehicle owner must purchase a metal license plate from DHSMV and pay all applicable motor vehicle fees. The bill also provides requirements for the digital license plate and requires providers to maintain an inventory of digital license plates, make available digital versions of each specialty license plate, and update the vehicle’s registration in real time. 
The bill analyst, Johnson, assumes that most of the programming is between the digital license plate provider and the consumer, so the bill will have an insignificant impact on DHSMV expenditures. However, the bill is unclear as to whether or not DHSMV will continue collecting all existing license plate fees. The bill provides that a consumer who chooses to purchase a digital license plate must purchase it directly from the digital license plate provider. In addition to any fees associated with the purchase of the digital license plate, the consumer is also responsible for paying to DHSMV all applicable motor vehicle fees, including the annual use fee associated with any specialty license plate the consumer wishes to display on the digital license plate.
As of now, only black and white displays are available, but the company CEO claims that color versions may be available in a year or so.
According to DHSMV, the bill should have an insignificant impact on it, since the purchase of the digital license plate will be conducted solely between the digital license plate provider and the consumer. Therefore, DSHMV does not plan on programming connectivity between the proposed digital license plates and DSHMV systems and will continue with its current procedures for original and renewal license plate transactions (per Email from Kevin Jacobs, Legislative Affairs Director, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, February 25, 2021.) The bill does not appear to impact county or municipal governments.

​"We look forward to working with Reviver and the ecosystem of vehicle compliance their platform and digital license plates will provide our DMV and our citizens. The expressive nature of their digital plates provides untapped opportunities for valuable communications." said Senator Joe Gruters, (R – Sarasota), the bill sponsor. Representative Nick Duran (D – Miami) who is sponsoring the House bill, said, "Bringing digital license plates to Florida helps to pave the way into a more connected future. Florida has always been on the cutting-edge of technology and allowing the use of this technology can bring large-scale efficiency and savings to the over 17 million registered vehicles in our state."

​According to ReviverMX, Inc., the company pursuing the legislation, their digital license plates are currently available in California and Arizona, and they claim 11 other states are in various stages of adoption. Depending on the type of digital license plate, prices start at $499 plus $55 per year or $17.95 per month with a 36-month agreement. https://reviver.com/shop/ The company is currently selling Rplates through multiple channels including automotive dealerships, affinity groups such as professional sports teams and college alumni associations, and small to medium-sized commercial fleets.
A SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT was included in ReviverMX’s press release announcing the Florida legislation: ReviverMX, Inc. (The Company) has prepared and provides all of the financial and related information stated herein. The Company makes no express or implied representation or warranty as to projections, estimates, future plans, or forward-looking assumptions or statements, nor as to their attainability or the accuracy and completeness of the assumptions from which they are derived. Projections and estimates of the Company's performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and may vary materially from actual results.
ReviverMX, formerly Smart Plate, Inc. was founded in 2009 and did not start selling a product until June 2018. According to the SEC EDGAR database and summary reports, the company raised $25.5 million in seed and A rounds. And a further
Reviver Auto has raised a total of $32M in funding over 5 rounds. Funding was also raised in July, 2019 from a Venture - Series Unknown round and a further %6.6M was raised last year in convertible notes from 48 investors. ViewTrade Securities, based in Boca Raton, are handling most of the fundraising..
According to PrivCo., Reviver Auto is funded by 3 main investors with ACK Group and Walden Riverwood Ventures are the most recent investors and has post-money valuation in the range of $50M to $100M as of Jan 10, 2018,  Board members include Ernst Lieb, the former CEO and President of Mercedes Benz USA, Canada and Australia.

​The latest version of the bill deleted a requirement for ReviverMX to pay $4.00 from the sale of each digital license plate to PRIDE on a quarterly basis. PRIDE Enterprises was incorporated in December 1981 and was formally established by the Legislature in 1983 to act as a private not-for-profit corporation1 operating correctional work programs in Florida’s prisons The final transfer of correctional work programs was completed in July 1984. PRIDE Enterprises does not receive funding from the Legislature and is supported by the earnings that it generates from the sale of its products and services. The DOC is required to lease buildings and land to PRIDE to operate these correctional work programs. PRIDE currently operates 35 different work programs in 21 prison correctional facilities and sells to all levels of government as well as nonstate and private entities. According to Dun & Bradstreet, annual revenue is $76.9 million.
In 2004, PRIDE’s CEO, Pamela Jo Davis, and president, John F. Bruels, were suspended by the company’s board as auditors probed loans the firm made to close affiliates. The board chairman, Maria Camila Leiva, said the board did not believe the two did anything wrong. Davis was paid by a spinoff firm and continued to be paid during her suspension, said PRIDE spokeswoman Evelyn Knight. Bruels was suspended with pay also.
In 2018, the Florida Dept of Corrections, Office of Inspector General Annual Report for FY 2017-18 showed that a Follow-up of Audit of PRIDE, found that  audit staff could not determine whether the billing process for PRIDE Accounts Receivable was accurate
An inmate may be employed by the PRIDE Enterprises or by any other private entity operating on the grounds of a correctional institution during the last 24 months of the inmate’s imprisonment. PRIDE generally pays inmates between 20 cents and 55 cents per hour, depending on their skill level and length of service. In addition, for every $1 an inmate earns, PRIDE pays 15 cents on behalf of inmates for victim restitution and transfers these payments to the department for distribution.