Chapter
343
2006 -- S 3047 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/07/06
A N A
C T
RELATING TO MOTOR
VEHICLES
Introduced By: Senators
Felag, Polisena, Damiani, Paiva-Weed, and Sosnowski
Date Introduced: April 27,
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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LC03084/SUB A/3
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