Senate File 36 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 36
BY SALMON
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to motor vehicle special registration plate
2 decals created by a nonprofit veterans’ organization or
3 associated with military service, and providing fees.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
TLSB 1099XS (3) 91
th/ns
 S.F. 36
1 Section 1. Section 35A.11, subsection 2, paragraph h, Code
2 2025, is amended to read as follows:
3 h. Combat infantryman badge, combat action badge, combat
4 action ribbon, air force combat action medal, and combat
5 medical badge plates decals issued pursuant to section 321.34,
6 subsection 20C.
7 Sec. 2. Section 321.34, subsection 13, paragraph b,
8 subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (c), Code 2025, is
9 amended to read as follows:
10 (c) The organization is a nonprofit corporation which is
11 exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(3) or
12 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code and is organized under
13 the laws of this state or authorized to do business within this
14 state.
15 Sec. 3. Section 321.34, subsection 13, paragraph f, Code
16 2025, is amended to read as follows:
17 f. A person shall not display a decal on a vehicle
18 registration plate other than a decal approved or issued by the
19 department.
20 Sec. 4. Section 321.34, subsection 20C, Code 2025, is
21 amended to read as follows:
22 20C. Combat infantryman badge, combat action badge, combat
23 action ribbon, air force combat action medal, and combat medical
24 badge plates decals.
25 a. The department, in consultation with the adjutant
26 general, shall design separate and distinct decals representing
27 a combat infantryman badge, combat action badge, combat action
28 ribbon, air force combat action medal, and combat medical badge
29 distinguishing processed emblems. Upon receipt of two hundred
30 fifty orders for combat infantryman badge, combat action badge,
31 combat action ribbon, air force combat action medal, or combat
32 medical badge special registration plates, accompanied by a
33 start-up fee of twenty dollars per order, the department shall
34 begin issuing special registration plates with the applicable
35 distinguishing processed emblem as provided in paragraphs
LSB 1099XS (3) 91
-1- th/ns 1/5
 S.F. 36
1 “b”, “c”, and “d”. The minimum order requirement shall apply
2 separately to each of the special registration plates created
3 under this subsection. The decals shall be designed to be
4 displayed on special plates issued under subsection 13.
5 b. An owner referred to in subsection 12 who was awarded a
6 combat infantryman badge, combat action badge, combat action
7 ribbon, air force combat action medal, or combat medical badge
8 by the United States government may, upon written application
9 to the department and presentation of satisfactory proof of
10 the award, order special registration plates with two decals
11 representing a combat infantryman badge, combat action badge,
12 combat action ribbon, air force combat action medal, or
13 combat medical badge processed emblem. The special plate fees
14 collected by the director under subsection 12, paragraph “a”,
15 from the annual validation of letter-number designated combat
16 infantryman badge, combat action badge, combat action ribbon,
17 air force combat action medal, and combat medical badge plates,
18 and subsection 12, paragraph “c”, from the issuance and annual
19 validation of personalized combat infantryman badge, combat
20 action badge, combat action ribbon, air force combat action
21 medal, and combat medical badge plates fee for each pair of
22 decals is ten dollars, and all such fees collected under this
23 subsection shall be paid monthly to the treasurer of state and
24 deposited in the road use tax fund. The treasurer of state
25 shall transfer monthly from the statutory allocations fund
26 created under section 321.145, subsection 2, to the veterans
27 license fee fund created in section 35A.11 the amount of the
28 special fees collected under this subsection 12, paragraph “a”,
29 in the previous month for combat infantryman badge, combat
30 action badge, combat action ribbon, air force combat action
31 medal, and combat medical badge plates decals.
32 c. Notwithstanding subsection 12, paragraph “a”, an owner
33 who is approved for special registration plates under this
34 subsection shall be issued one set of special registration
35 plates with a combat infantryman badge, combat action badge,
LSB 1099XS (3) 91
-2- th/ns 2/5
 S.F. 36
1 combat action ribbon, air force combat action medal, or combat
2 medical badge distinguishing processed emblem at no charge.
3 d. c. The surviving spouse of a person who was issued
4 special plates decals under this subsection may continue to
5 use or apply for and use the special plates decals affixed to
6 the plates issued under subsection 13 subject to registration
7 of the special plates in the surviving spouse’s name and
8 upon payment of the annual five-dollar special plate fee and
9 the regular annual registration fee for the vehicle. If the
10 surviving spouse remarries, the surviving spouse shall either
11 remove and dispose of the decals or return the special plates
12 with the decals affixed to the department and the department
13 shall issue regular registration plates to the surviving
14 spouse.
15 Sec. 5. DEPARTMENT TO MAKE ACCOMMODATIONS. For special
16 registration plate applications received by the department of
17 transportation under section 321.34, subsection 20C, Code 2025,
18 prior to July 1, 2025, the department shall make reasonable
19 efforts to contact the applicants to inform the applicants
20 of the decals authorized by this Act. The department shall
21 give the applicant the option to be refunded the twenty-dollar
22 start-up fee for combat infantryman badge, combat action badge,
23 combat action ribbon, air force combat action medal, or combat
24 medical badge special registration plates paid by the applicant
25 prior to July 1, 2025, or to be refunded ten dollars of the
26 original start-up fee and be issued a special plate under
27 section 321.34, subsection 13, along with the applicable decals
28 authorized by this Act, if the applicant is eligible to be
29 issued the decals.
30 EXPLANATION
31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
33 Under current law, the department of transportation (DOT)
34 is authorized to issue special registration plates with a
35 space to display an organization decal. The DOT does not
LSB 1099XS (3) 91
-3- th/ns 3/5
 S.F. 36
1 issue the organization decal. Instead, the organization is
2 responsible for producing, administering, and issuing the
3 decal. An organization must submit an application to the DOT
4 for approval to issue a decal. An application must include
5 proof of eligibility to issue the decal, a color copy of the
6 completed decal design, a clear and concise explanation of
7 the purpose of the decal, all eligibility requirements for
8 purchasing the decal, and the fees to be charged for the decal.
9 To qualify for approval, the primary activity or interest
10 of the organization must serve the community, contribute to
11 the welfare of others, and cannot be discriminatory in its
12 purpose, nature, activity, or name; the name and purpose of the
13 organization cannot promote any specific product or brand name
14 that is provided for sale; and the organization is required to
15 be a nonprofit corporation which is exempt from taxation under
16 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and organized
17 under Iowa’s laws or authorized to do business within Iowa.
18 This bill authorizes an organization which is exempt under
19 section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code to apply
20 for approval to issue an organization decal. To be exempt
21 under section 501(c)(19), an organization must be a post or
22 organization of past or present members of the United States
23 armed forces, an auxiliary unit or society of such post
24 or organization, or a trust or foundation for such post or
25 organization.
26 In 2011, the general assembly authorized the DOT, in
27 consultation with the adjutant general, to design combat
28 infantryman badge, combat action badge, combat action ribbon,
29 air force combat action medal, and combat medical badge
30 distinguishing processed emblem special registration plates.
31 However, the DOT is required to receive 250 orders, including
32 a start-up fee, for each plate before the DOT can produce or
33 issue any of the registration plates. The bill strikes the
34 provisions relating to the special registration plates and
35 minimum order requirements and instead requires the DOT to
LSB 1099XS (3) 91
-4- th/ns 4/5
 S.F. 36
1 design and issue separate and distinct decals representing the
2 applicable badges, ribbons, and medals. The decals must be
3 designed to be displayed on registration plates issued under
4 Code section 321.34(13) (plates with space reserved for a
5 decal).
6 The DOT must issue two decals to an approved applicant and
7 the fee for a pair of decals is $10. The fee is deposited into
8 the road use tax fund and, each month, the treasurer of state
9 must transfer from the statutory allocations fund the amount
10 of fees received under the bill to the veterans license fee
11 fund. The bill makes corresponding changes to Code sections
12 35A.11(2)(h) and 321.34(20C).
13 The DOT is required to make reasonable efforts to contact
14 applicants who previously applied for and paid the required
15 start-up fee. An applicant is eligible to receive a refund of
16 the $20 fee, or receive a refund of $10 plus the applicable
17 decals and plates as provided in the bill.
LSB 1099XS (3) 91
-5- th/ns 5/5


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 35A.11, 321.34