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S1366.....................................................by TRANSPORTATION
MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES - Adds to and amends existing law to provide
an alternative to the standard issue of motor vehicle license plates, which
may be configured according to specified options.
02/10 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/13 Rpt prt - to Transp
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1366
BY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES; AMENDING SECTION 49-443, IDAHO CODE,
3 TO PROVIDE A REFERENCE TO AN EXCEPTION TO THE STANDARD ISSUE OF LICENSE
4 PLATES; AND AMENDING CHAPTER 4, TITLE 49, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A
5 NEW SECTION 49-443A, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD
6 ISSUE OF LICENSE PLATES, WHICH MAY BE CONFIGURED ACCORDING TO SPECIFIED
7 OPTIONS AND TO PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
9 SECTION 1. That Section 49-443, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
10 amended to read as follows:
11 49-443. LICENSE PLATES TO BE FURNISHED BY DEPARTMENT -- FORM AND CON-
12 TENTS. (1) The assessor or the department shall furnish to every owner whose
13 vehicle is registered by that office, pursuant to sections 49-402 and 49-402A,
14 Idaho Code, one (1) license plate for vehicles registered under the provisions
15 of section 49-406, 49-406A or 49-408, Idaho Code, or a motorcycle, trailer,
16 truck-tractor, or semitrailer, and two (2) license plates for every other
17 motor vehicle. If a vehicle is issued one (1) plate only, that plate shall be
18 displayed in accordance with the provisions of section 49-428, Idaho Code. For
19 vehicles registered under the provisions of section 49-407, Idaho Code, the
20 applicant shall provide one (1) plate to be displayed on the rear of the vehi-
21 cle.
22 Commencing January 1, 1992, the color and design of the plates shall be
23 comparable to the color and design of the statehood centennial issue of
24 license plates with blue numerals and letters on a multicolored red, white and
25 blue background. Each license plate must bear upon its face the inscriptions
26 "Famous Potatoes" and "Scenic Idaho,." except as provided in section 49-443A,
27 Idaho Code, which provides a digitized alternative to the standard issue of
28 license plates.
29 Every license plate shall have displayed upon it the registration number
30 assigned to the vehicle and its owner and the name "Idaho" which may be abbre-
31 viated. The plates issued under the provisions of section 49-402(1), Idaho
32 Code, and the required letters and numerals, including an identification of
33 the county in which the motor vehicle to which the plates will be affixed is
34 registered, shall be of sufficient size to be plainly readable from a distance
35 of seventy-five (75) feet during daylight, and each license plate and regis-
36 tration sticker shall be treated with a fully reflectorized material according
37 to specifications prescribed by the board.
38 (2) License plates shall be valid for a period of seven (7) years begin-
39 ning with the date of issuance of new plates. At the end of the sixth year,
40 the registered owner shall receive notice of the date upon which the plates
41 will expire. The department shall implement a plate-number reservation program
42 beginning prior to the 1999 plate issue and following once every seven (7)
43 years thereafter, for a limited plate-number sequence in each county which
2
1 chooses to offer a reservation program. Requests for license plate number res-
2 ervations shall be submitted to the county during the open reservation period
3 established by the department. The department may charge a minimal fee as
4 determined by the board to recover costs to the department for reservation of
5 license plate numbers.
6 (3) If a license plate number has expired as provided in subsection (2)
7 of this section and the number was not reserved, or if the vehicle registra-
8 tion is not renewed within sixty (60) days of its expiration, the plate num-
9 ber shall be available for use by another registrant. To obtain a specific
10 number in the recycled license plate number file, the owner of a registered
11 vehicle shall pay a one (1) time fee as determined by rule of the board.
12 The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to vehicles registered
13 under the provisions of section 49-402(1), Idaho Code, and section 49-434(1),
14 Idaho Code, as it applies to noncommercial vehicles.
15 (4) License plates issued for vehicles required to be registered in
16 accordance with the provisions of sections 49-402 and 49-402A, Idaho Code,
17 shall be issued color coded registration validation stickers showing the year
18 of registration. Each registration validation sticker shall bear a number from
19 1 through 12, which number shall correspond to the month of the calendar year
20 in which the registration of the vehicle expires and shall be affixed to the
21 lower right-hand corner of the plates within the outlined rectangular area.
22 (5) License plates for utility trailers registered under the provisions
23 of section 49-402A, Idaho Code, which are issued for five (5) or ten (10)
24 years and license plates for trailers, rental utility trailers and semi-
25 trailers registered under the provisions of section 49-434, Idaho Code, which
26 are issued for five (5) years shall use the design in effect on the date of
27 manufacture. If a design change occurs, plates from the effective date of the
28 design change shall be manufactured using the new design. Unexpired plates
29 need not be reissued to conform to a design change.
30 (6) For license plates which are lost, stolen, mutilated, or illegible,
31 the owner shall apply for a duplicate or substitute. The assessor shall also
32 furnish for each registration, and to validate the license plate, a pressure-
33 sensitive, uniquely-numbered registration sticker, except for trailers and
34 semitrailers registered under the optional seven (7) year trailer provisions
35 in section 49-434, Idaho Code. License plates issued for state, county and
36 city motor vehicles shall be permanent and remain on the vehicle for which
37 issued from year to year, and need no renewal or validation sticker.
38 (7) Whenever a vehicle is completely destroyed by fire or accident and
39 the operator submits satisfactory proof of that destruction to the department
40 or appropriate assessor's office, the registration use increment and fees
41 shall be transferred to the replacement vehicle for a service transfer fee of
42 five dollars ($5.00), which fee shall be retained by the registering author-
43 ity. None of the original fees shall be subject to refund.
44 (8) The department shall furnish to every owner whose vehicle is regis-
45 tered under sections 49-434 and 49-435, Idaho Code, a pressure-sensitive,
46 uniquely-numbered registration sticker to validate the license plate.
47 (9) The board shall have authority to require the return to the depart-
48 ment of all license plates and registration stickers upon termination of the
49 lawful use of them by the owner.
50 (10) The board may promulgate such rules as are necessary to implement the
51 provisions of this section.
52 SECTION 2. That Chapter 4, Title 49, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
53 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
54 ignated as Section 49-443A, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
3
1 49-443A. LICENSE PLATE ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD ISSUE OF PLATES --
2 DIGITIZED. (1) Every motor vehicle owner whose registered vehicle is to be
3 furnished license plates according to the provisions of section 49-443, Idaho
4 Code, shall be allowed the option of obtaining an alternative license plate
5 that meets the requirements of the standard issue of license plates.
6 (2) Upon application to a county, the owner may request a standard issue
7 license plate that shall contain the color and design comparable to the color
8 and design of the statehood centennial issue of license plates with blue
9 numerals and letters on a multicolored red, white and blue background, and the
10 slogan "Scenic Idaho," but which may be configured, at the option of the
11 owner, to:
12 (a) Omit the slogan "Famous Potatoes"; and
13 (b) Omit the county designator, or not.
14 (3) The provisions of this section shall become effective on January 1
15 following the year in which the Idaho transportation department adopts the
16 process for creating digitized license plates, or upon a date as determined by
17 the department, but no later than six (6) months following adoption of the
18 digitized process.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16011
This legislation authorizes the addition of a generic standard
license plate to accompany the standard plate with the "Famous
Potatoes" slogan. Adoption of the second standard plate is
contingent on the Idaho Transportation Department adopting a
digitized license plate production process.
Adoption of a second standard plate will give Idaho motor vehicle
owners a choice between two standard license plates.
The Idaho potato industry is important to Idaho's economy. Idaho
farmers sold (gross receipts) $503 million of potatoes in 2004.
Potatoes are Idaho's third largest agricultural commodity,
following the sale of milk ($1.358 million)and cattle and calves
($1.059 million). Idaho's population has changed dramatically
since the "Famous Potatoes" standard license plate was adopted in
1960 and has been included since. Other than as a consumer, most
of Idaho's citizens have no affiliation with the potato segment
of the agriculture industry. Many have asked for a choice in
their standard license plate to be effective, the Idaho
Transportation Department will need to approve replacement of the
present heavy-machinery-metal-stamping process at Correctional
Industries with the new digitized, technologically-efficient,
high-speed, high-resolution photography, license-plate-on-demand
(eliminates most license plate inventories, except for the
standard plates) production equipment (digitized plate production
will continue to be preformed at Correctional Industries).
FISCAL NOTE
The fiscal impact cannot be determined because it is contingent
upon potential actions of the Idaho Transportation Department in
moving to a digitized plate production process. Evaluation of
different digitized equipment manufacturers is not complete.
Adoption of the digitized process will have certain increased
costs as well as savings and improved service. There will be an
increased cost of stocking an additional standard plate. Such
additional stocking cost will be partially or fully offset by the
reduction in the cost of stocking specialty plates. The cost
directly associated with producing a new standard plate should
not exceed $10,000.
Contact persons:
Representative Rich Wills (208)332-1218
Senator Hal Bunderson (208)332-1320
Pam Lowe, Administrator, Idaho Transportation Department,
Motor Vehicles (208) 334-4443
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1366