House File 2142 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 2142
BY BODEN
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to personalized fire fighter and emergency
2 medical services special registration plates, and providing
3 fees.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. Section 321.34, subsection 10, paragraphs a, b,
2 and d, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
3 a. An owner referred to in subsection 12 who Upon
4 application and payment of the proper fees, the director may
5 issue fire fighter plates to the owner of a motor vehicle
6 subject to registration under section 321.109, subsection 1,
7 autocycle, motor truck, motor home, multipurpose vehicle,
8 motorcycle, trailer, or travel trailer if the owner is
9 a current or retired member of a paid or volunteer fire
10 department may, upon written application to the department,
11 order. The special registration plates, designed by the
12 department in cooperation with representatives designated by
13 the Iowa fire fighters’ associations, which signify that the
14 applicant is a current or retired member of a paid or volunteer
15 fire department.
16 b. The application shall be approved by the department
17 in consultation with representatives designated by the Iowa
18 fire fighters’ associations, and the special registration
19 plates shall be issued to the applicant in exchange for the
20 registration plates previously issued to the person. An
21 applicant who is the owner of a business-trade truck or special
22 truck shall not be issued special fire fighter registration
23 plates for more than one vehicle. The fee for the special
24 plates is twenty-five dollars which shall be paid in addition
25 to the regular annual registration fee. An applicant may
26 obtain personalized fire fighter plates upon payment of
27 the additional fee for personalized plates as provided in
28 subsection 5 in addition to the special fire fighter fee and
29 the regular registration fee. Personalized plates authorized
30 by this subsection shall be limited to no more than five
31 initials, letters, or combinations of numerals and letters.
32 The department shall validate the special plates in the same
33 manner as regular registration plates are validated under this
34 section at the regular annual registration fee.
35 d. For purposes of this subsection, a person is considered
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1 to be retired if the person is recognized by the chief of the
2 fire department where the individual served, and on record,
3 as officially retired from the fire department. Special fire
4 fighter registration plates with a fire fighter emblem shall
5 be surrendered, as provided in subsection 12, in exchange for
6 regular registration plates upon termination of the motor
7 vehicle owner’s membership in the paid or volunteer fire
8 department, unless the person is a retired member in good
9 standing.
10 Sec. 2. Section 321.34, subsection 10A, Code 2024, is
11 amended to read as follows:
12 10A. Emergency medical services plates.
13 a. The owner of a motor vehicle referred to in subsection
14 12 who is a current member of a paid or volunteer emergency
15 medical services agency may, upon written application to
16 the department, order special registration plates with an
17 emergency medical services distinguishing processed emblem,
18 designed by the department in cooperation with representatives
19 designated by the Iowa emergency medical services association,
20 which plates signify emblem signifies that the applicant is
21 a current member of a paid or volunteer emergency medical
22 services agency. The application shall be approved by the
23 department, in consultation with representatives designated
24 by the Iowa emergency medical services association, and the
25 special registration plates shall be issued to the applicant in
26 exchange for the registration plates previously issued to the
27 person. The fee for the special plates is twenty-five dollars
28 which is in addition to the regular annual registration fee.
29 The department shall validate the special plates in the same
30 manner as regular registration plates are validated under this
31 section at the regular annual registration fee.
32 b. The special plate fees collected by the director under
33 this subsection subsection 12, paragraph “a”, from the annual
34 validation of letter-number designated emergency medical
35 services plates, and subsection 12, paragraph “c”, from the
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1 issuance and annual validation of personalized emergency
2 medical services plates shall be paid monthly to the treasurer
3 of state and deposited in the road use tax fund. The treasurer
4 of state shall transfer monthly from the statutory allocations
5 fund created under section 321.145, subsection 2, to the
6 emergency medical services fund created in section 135.25 the
7 amount of the special fees collected in the previous month for
8 issuance of emergency medical services plates.
9 EXPLANATION
10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
11 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
12 Under current law, an owner of a motor vehicle who is
13 a current or retired member of a paid or volunteer fire
14 department may order fire fighter special registration plates
15 signifying the owner is an active or retired fire fighter. The
16 plates are designed by the department of transportation (DOT)
17 in cooperation with representatives designated by the Iowa fire
18 fighters’ associations. The design is such that the plates
19 do not match the color and design of regular registration
20 plates (alternate design plates), as authorized by Code section
21 321.166 (vehicle plate specifications).
22 Likewise, under current law, an owner of a motor vehicle
23 who is a current member of a paid or volunteer emergency
24 medical services (EMS) agency may order special registration
25 plates, designed by the DOT in cooperation with representatives
26 designated by the Iowa EMS association, signifying that the
27 person is a current member of a paid or volunteer EMS agency.
28 The design is such that the plates match the color and design
29 of regular registration plates but contain a distinguishing
30 processed emblem (emblem plates).
31 This bill authorizes the DOT to issue personalized fire
32 fighter and EMS registration plates, in accordance with Code
33 sections 321.34(5) and 321.34(12), as applicable. The fee for
34 personalized plates is $25, which is in addition to all other
35 registration fees. The annual fee for personalized plates is
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1 $5, and is also in addition to all other fees. Due to the
2 plates’ respective designs, the bill limits the number of
3 characters on a personalized fire fighter or EMS plate to five
4 numerals and letters.
5 The bill makes further changes to align the plate provisions
6 with the respective language used for other, similar plates
7 (alternate design plate language for fire fighter plates, and
8 emblem plate language for EMS plates). For purposes of emblem
9 plates, Code section 321.34(12) contains provisions relating
10 to the default $25 fee, personalized emblem plates, and the
11 exchange or surrender of such plates. Therefore, the EMS plate
12 provision is updated to include relevant references and exclude
13 duplicative provisions.
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 321.34