If your car registration is due to be renewed July 1 or later, you may get an extra month to pay it. But it’s all part of a effort by state Democrats to buy time to reach a budget deal and to keep vehicle license fees from dropping.

As part of the budget battle, the state Senate this week approved Senate Bill 94 that would require the DMV to delay sending out registration renewal bills for at least one month. The Assembly already approved the bill, and it now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The bottom line of the bill is that on July 1 the temporary, one-half percentage point increase in vehicle license fees expires. That would save a driver $75 a year on a car worth $15,000. But the higher vehicle license fee has generated $1.4 billion in extra revenue for state, and Brown and the Democrats want to extend the higher fee. The Assembly already has passed SB 94, which now goes to Brown.

The Democrats “don’t want drivers to receive renewal notices quoting lower (vehicle license fee) rates now, only to have the DMV ask them for more money later this year. That would frustrate drivers and likely undermine support for Brown’s tax plan,” the Sacramento Bee’s Kevin Yamamura reported last week.

State law now requires the DMV to send out renewal notices at least 60 days in advance. SB94 would order the DMV to delay sending out the notices but doesn’t state exactly when they should go out. A state official told the Bee that the DMV could wait until July 1 if necessary.

The bill would give drivers an extra month to pay their renewal fees without penalty.