Chapter 212
2006 -- H 7082 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/03/06
A N A C T
RELATING
TO MOTOR VEHICLES
Introduced
By: Representatives Carter, Gallison, Slater, Jacquard, and Moffitt
Date
Introduced: February 07, 2006
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. Section
31-3-53 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-3 entitled "Registration
of Vehicles" is hereby amended to read as
follows:
31-3-53.
Veterans' plates. -- (a) The administrator of the division of motor
vehicles shall
issue for any motorcycle eligible for
registration as a motorcycle, motor vehicle eligible for
registration as an automobile, or a commercial
vehicle having a gross weight of ten thousand
pounds (10,000 lbs.) or less, plates designated
as "War Veteran", "Purple Heart", and "Ex-POW"
upon application on proper forms furnished by
the administrator of the division of motor vehicles
to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean
conflict, the Vietnam conflict, and any member of
the armed forces of the United States who served
at any time in the Persian Gulf beginning
August 2, 1990 to present, in the Iraq
operations at any time between March 20, 2003 to present,
in the Panama operations beginning December 20,
1989 to January 31, 1990, in the Lebanon
operations beginning: (1) July 1, 1958 to
November 1, 1958, (2) August 20, 1982 to May 31,
1983, (3) June 1, 1983 to December 1987, in the
Grenada operations beginning October 23, 1983
to November 21, 1983, or any veteran of any
conflict or undeclared war who has earned a
campaign ribbon or expeditionary medal for
service in said conflict or undeclared war.
(b) For motor
vehicles the special plates shall be designed as follows:
(1) Left and
right borders of two inches (2");
(2) Left
border shall be red with three (3) white stars within the border;
(3) Right
border shall be blue and have five (5) stripes, three (3) red and two (2) white
within the border;
(4) Letters
shall be blue in a white background with the words "War Veteran"
clearly
visible at the top center of the plate.
(c) The
applicant shall be required to pay a service charge of ten dollars ($10.00) and
a
transfer charge of five dollars ($5.00) for the
plate.
(d) Any person
issued a plate under this section prior to July 31, 1989 shall be entitled to
a reimbursement in the amount of seven dollars
($7.00) upon application for it.
(e) The owner
of a motor vehicle eligible for registration as a commercial vehicle having
a gross weight of ten thousand pounds (10,000
lbs.) or less that is issued war veteran plates shall
continue to pay the appropriate commercial
registration fee for those plates.
The owner of a
motor vehicle eligible for registration as a commercial vehicle having a
gross weight of six thousand three hundred
pounds (6,300 lbs.) but not more than ten thousand
pounds (10,000 lbs.) shall sign an affidavit at
the time of application for said plates stating that
the vehicle is to be used for personal use only.
(f) For
purposes of this section, a "veteran" shall be defined as any person
who served in
the military or naval service of the United
States in World War I or who served in the military or
naval service of the United States in World War
II at any time during the period beginning
December 7, 1941, and ending on December 31,
1946, or who served in the military or naval
services of the United States in the Korean
conflict at any time during the period beginning June
27, 1950 and ending January 31, 1955, or in the
Vietnam conflict at any time during the period
beginning August 5, 1964 and ending May 7, 1975,
or in the Taiwan Straits expeditionary force
at any time from August 23, 1958 to January 1,
1959 or the Persian Gulf beginning August 2,
1990 to present, in the Panama Operations
beginning December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990, in
the Lebanon Operations beginning: (1) July 1,
1958 to November 1, 1958, (2) August 20, 1982 to
May 31, 1983, (3) June 1, 1983 to December 1987,
in the Grenada Operations beginning October
23, 1983 to November 21, 1983, or any veteran of
any conflict or undeclared war who has earned
a campaign ribbon or expeditionary medal for
service in said conflict or undeclared war. Upon
the death of the holder of any war veteran
plates, the plates shall be transferred to the spouse's
surviving spouse for the spouse's lifetime until
he or she remarries.
(g) The
"veteran" described in subsection (f) must have been honorably
discharged from
the armed forces of this nation in order to
receive plates pursuant to this section and, for purposes
of this section, a medical discharge shall be
deemed an honorable discharge.
(h) The
administrator of the division of motor vehicles shall prepare a design that is
appropriate for use on a motorcycle.
(a) The
registrar of motor vehicles shall issue for any motor vehicle eligible for
registration as an automobile, or a commercial
vehicle having a gross weight of ten thousand one
pounds (10,001 lbs.) or less, plates designated
as "Veteran", "Purple Heart", and "Ex-POW" upon
application on proper forms furnished by the
administrator of the division of motor vehicles to
veterans. Gold Star parents shall also be
eligible for plates designated as "Veteran".
(b) The special
plates designated "Veteran" shall be designed as follows;
(1) Letters and
numbers shall be blue in a white background with the words "Rhode
Island" clearly visible at the top center
of the plate and the word "Veteran" visible at the bottom
center of the plate.
(2) The
background will be a red, white and blue waving American Flag.
(3) On the top
right corner will be a decal with the military branch of the service in which
the Veteran served (Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, and Gold
Star Parent).
(c) The
applicant shall be required to pay a service charge of twenty dollars ($20.00)
and
a transfer charge of five dollars ($5.00) for each
plate.
(d) The
applicant shall be entitled to a plate for each vehicle owned by the applicant
upon
payment of an additional service charge and/or
transfer charge for each vehicle.
(e) The owner
of a motor vehicle eligible for registration as a commercial vehicle and
having a gross weight of ten thousand one pounds
(10,001 lbs.) or less that is issued veteran
plates shall continue to pay the appropriate
commercial registration fee for those plates. The
owner of a motor vehicle eligible for
registration as a commercial vehicle having a gross weight
of six thousand three hundred pounds (6,300
lbs.) but not more than ten thousand one pounds
(10,001 lbs.) shall sign an affidavit at the
time of application for said plates stating that the
vehicle is to be used for personal use only.
(f) For the
purposes of this section, a "veteran" shall be defined as any person
who has
served on active duty in the armed forces of the
United States. The term "veteran" shall also
include members of the National Guard and
Reserves: (1) called to active duty authorized by the
President of the United States or the Secretary
of Defense; or (2) who have twenty (20) years of
service with a letter and record of separation
of service. Upon the death of the holder of any
veteran plates, the plates shall be transferred
to the surviving spouse for the spouse's lifetime until
he or she remarries.
(g) The
"veteran" described in subsection (f) must have been honorably discharged
from
the armed forces of this nation in order to
receive plates pursuant to this section and, for purposes
of this section, a medical discharge or a
general discharge shall be deemed an honorable
discharge.
(h) For the
purpose of this section, "Gold Star Parent" means a person who has
lost a son
or a daughter as a result of service with the
armed forces of the United States of America;
provided, the death was determined to be in the
line of duty.
(i)
Veterans who have served in multiple conflicts are entitled to be issued,
veterans’ plates
equal to the number of conflicts he or she
served in; provided, the plates are limited to the number
of vehicles owned by the veteran.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01043/SUB
A
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