CS/HB 251 SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE PROCEDURES

Rep P. Mark Duncan

Actions: [4] not prntd-HRC- w/drn-prntd-ref- HRDLC/HAFC-HRDLC [6] DNP-CS/DP-HAFC [10] DP [15] PASSED/H (62-0) [14] STBTC-STBTC- DP [15] PASSED/S (41-0) SGND BY GOV (Mar. 5) Ch. 58.

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 House Bill 251 (HB 251) requires that special logos for license plates be made as attachable decals, and directs that standardized special registration plates be made with a blank space to attach a logo; includes a requirement that existing manufactured plates be depleted before creating attachable logos; requires the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) of the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) to apply for a license to use the Smokey Bear image and name; and provides for the issuance of a Smokey Bear fire prevention registration plate. 

 House Bill 251 (HB 251) states that special logos for license plates must be made as attachable decals, and the standardized special registration plates must be made with a blank space for a logo to be attached. For special registration plates manufactured before June 16, 2024, any remaining supply of the manufactured plates must be depleted before developing and issuing attachable logos.

A new section of the Motor Vehicle Code is enacted to state that the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) must apply for a long-term license from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service to use the image and name of Smokey Bear on a standardized special registration plate. When such a license agreement is finalized, the MVD must issue a standardized Smokey Bear fire prevention special registration plate with an attachable logo.

Fees are established for vehicle owners to pay for the Smokey Bear fire prevention awareness plate. One fourth of the fee may be retained by the DMV, and the remainder is to be distributed to the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) to support fire prevention.
 

 The Motor Vehicle Code exists to regulate licensing and other matters, but there are currently no requirements regarding attachable logos or for the special Smokey Bear fire prevention license plate. In 2023 an effort was made to pass House Bill 363 (HB 363) with a plan similar to that presented in House Bill 251 (HB 251), but the bill was vetoed. The proposal has now been reworked. If the bill does not pass, there will be no allowance for the Smokey Bear fire prevention awareness plate, nor for potential revenues for the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD). 

 Committee Substitute February 1, 2024 in House Rural Development, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs 

HRDLCcs/HB 251: The committee substitute for House Bill 251 (HB 251) provides for cessation of issuance of the Smokey Bear license plates based on new issuance and renewals; the substitute bill does not call for a waiting period until other license plates are depleted. Further, the bill has the same basic purpose but is reorganized, with topics now being in the following order:

•	A new section of the Motor Vehicle Code is enacted to require that the division must apply for a long-term license from the United States department of agriculture forest service to use the image and name of Smokey Bear on a standardized special registration plate to raise fire prevention awareness and to raise money for state forest fire prevention efforts;
 
•	Upon finalizing a license agreement, the division is to issue a standardized Smokey Bear fire prevention special registration plate with a detachable logo;

•	For an initial fee of fifty dollars ($50.00), which is in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fees, the owner of a vehicle may apply for issuance of a Smokey Bear fire prevention awareness special registration plate. The vehicle owner must pay a fee of forty dollars ($40.00) each year to retain and renew the Smokey Bear forest fire prevention special registration plate; 

•	After payment for any licensing fee required for the use of the Smokey Bear name or image, the revenue from the additional fee for a Smokey Bear fire prevention special registration plate shall be distributed as follows: (1) twelve dollars ($12.00) of the initial fee collected shall be retained by and is appropriated to the department to defray the cost of making and issuing the special registration plate with the Smokey Bear logo; and (2) the remaining portion of the initial registration fee and the entire portion of subsequent renewal fees remaining after payment of licensing fees is to be distributed to the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department for forest fire prevention; 

•	Beginning on July 1, 2027, and on July 1 of each subsequent year, the department is to compare the number of the Smokey Bear fire prevention special registration plates issued, or registration renewals for those plates in the previous fiscal year, with the average of the number of such plates issued in fiscal years 2025 and 2026; and 

•	By September 1 of a fiscal year in which the department determines that the number of Smokey Bear fire prevention special registration plates issued and registration renewals for those plates in the previous fiscal year is less than fifty percent of the average number of such plates issued in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, the department will stop issuing Smokey Bear fire prevention special registration plates.
 

 Senate Bill 208 (SB 208) – Automatic License Plate Reader