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H.B. 74 Final Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 74’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the General Assembly
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Oelslager
Effective Date: June 30, 2021; appropriations for current expenses effective March 31, 2021,
but first apply July 1, 2021; certain other provisions effective March 31, 2021
Effective Date:
Margaret Marcy, Helena Volzer, Andrew Little
Michael Hinel, Joe McDaniels, Attorneys
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY .................................................................................................. 4
Temporary motor vehicle license registration ............................................................................... 8
Farm bus registration ...................................................................................................................... 9
Commercial trailer and semitrailer registration ............................................................................. 9
Registrar report ......................................................................................................................... 10
Vehicle registration reminder notices: E-Check ........................................................................... 11
Production of validation and county stickers ............................................................................... 11
Issuance of registration certificates and stickers ......................................................................... 11
Specialty license plates ................................................................................................................. 12
Defining “specialty license plates” ............................................................................................ 12
Fees and taxes for specialty license plates ............................................................................... 12
Specialty license plate termination ........................................................................................... 13
School reporting requirements ................................................................................................. 13
Technical changes ..................................................................................................................... 14
Salvage certificates of title ............................................................................................................ 14
Electronic certificates of title ........................................................................................................ 14
Casual sales and assignment form ............................................................................................ 14
Proof of ownership at registration ............................................................................................ 15
Transfer of ownership by law ....................................................................................................... 15
April 28, 2021
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Joint ownership with right of survivorship................................................................................ 15
Transfer-on-death designation ................................................................................................. 15
Online renewal of driver’s license and identification card ........................................................... 16
Sharing digital driver’s license photos .......................................................................................... 17
Single credential............................................................................................................................ 17
Behind-the-wheel driver’s training ............................................................................................... 18
Remedial driver instruction courses ............................................................................................. 18
Seizure of license plates after OVI offense ................................................................................... 19
Personal delivery devices .............................................................................................................. 19
Preschool school zones ................................................................................................................. 19
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION .......................................................................................... 20
Bridge inspections ......................................................................................................................... 21
Load limits on highways and bridges ............................................................................................ 22
Outdoor advertising devices ......................................................................................................... 22
Scenic byways ............................................................................................................................... 23
Transportation Review Advisory Council funding for rail ............................................................. 23
Maintenance of interstate highways ............................................................................................ 24
Catastrophic Snowfall Program .................................................................................................... 24
Commercial motor vehicle parking ............................................................................................... 25
Weigh stations ........................................................................................................................... 25
ODOT rest areas ........................................................................................................................ 25
Indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts ............................................................... 25
TAXATION ..................................................................................................................................... 25
Transit authority membership and taxation ................................................................................. 26
Membership expansion ............................................................................................................. 26
Tax conversion........................................................................................................................... 26
Disclosing taxpayer information to verify grant or loan eligibility ............................................... 27
Motor fuel tax allowances and refunds ........................................................................................ 27
OTHER PROVISIONS ..................................................................................................................... 28
Retail installment contracts .......................................................................................................... 29
Force accounts .............................................................................................................................. 30
Automatic escalation................................................................................................................. 30
Joint Committee on Force Accounts ......................................................................................... 30
Transportation improvement district board................................................................................. 31
Regional transportation improvement projects (RTIPs) ............................................................... 31
Voluntary assessments .............................................................................................................. 31
P a g e |2 H.B. 74
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Collection and enforcement ...................................................................................................... 32
Background................................................................................................................................ 32
Fireworks manufacturer and wholesaler licenses ........................................................................ 32
Geographic transfer of operations ............................................................................................ 33
Ownership transfers .................................................................................................................. 33
Trade secrets in insurance filings .................................................................................................. 33
Land conveyance........................................................................................................................... 34
Outdoor advertising devices ......................................................................................................... 34
P a g e |3 H.B. 74
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Temporary motor vehicle license registration
 Changes the name of the temporary license placard or windshield sticker issued after
the purchase of a vehicle to temporary motor vehicle license registration.
 Generally requires, rather than authorizes, Ohio motorized bicycle dealers and licensed
motor vehicle dealers to issue temporary motor vehicle license registrations by
electronic means via computer equipment the dealer must buy and maintain.
 Eliminates both of the following:
 The requirement that a dealer notify the Registrar of Motor Vehicles within 48 hours
of the issuance of a temporary license placard by electronic or other Registrar-
approved means; and
 The $5 service fee that applies when a dealer notifies the Registrar of the issuance of
a placard by nonelectronic means.
 Authorizes, rather than requires, the Registrar to adopt rules specifying procedures for
reporting information from temporary license registration applications and for providing
that information to law enforcement.
Farm bus registration
 Increases the period of validity of a motor vehicle registration for a farm bus from 210
days to 310 days.
Commercial trailer and semitrailer registration
 Beginning January 1, 2022, requires the owner or lessee of a trailer or semitrailer that is
registering it for the first time in Ohio to pay a one-time $50 registration tax.
 Retains the requirement that an owner or lessee of a trailer or semitrailer that has
previously registered the trailer or semitrailer in Ohio prior to 2022, pay the preexisting
annual $25 registration tax.
 Makes conforming changes in the multi-year and permanent registration options for
trailers and semitrailers.
 Requires the Registrar to collect certain information regarding new registrations of
trailers and semitrailers that result from the act’s changes and provide a report to the
Governor, Senate President, Speaker of the House, and Director of the Legislative
Service Commission by March 15, 2023.
Vehicle registration reminder notices: E-Check
 Clarifies that battery electric motor vehicles are excluded from the requirement to
undergo an emissions inspection under the motor vehicle inspection and maintenance
program (E-Check).
P a g e |4 H.B. 74
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Specifies that a battery electric motor vehicle is a passenger car powered wholly by a
battery cell energy system that can be recharged via an external source of electricity.
 Requires the Registrar to include a statement in vehicle registration renewal notices that
battery electric vehicles are not subject to E-Check.
Production of validation and county stickers
 Allows the Registrar to adopt rules permitting third parties to print or produce
validation and county identification stickers.
 Retains the authority for the Registrar to adopt rules permitting the Registrar or deputy
registrars to produce the stickers, and retains the requirement that Ohio Penal
Industries produce the stickers if the Registrar does not adopt the rules.
Issuance of registration certificates and stickers
 Expands the methods by which the Registrar may deliver a certificate of registration for
a motor vehicle to include electronic delivery.
 Removes the requirement that a validation sticker be issued for and displayed on a
nonapportioned commercial tractor or any apportioned motor vehicle.
 Allows the Registrar to issue a county identification sticker that identifies the county of
registration either by name or number, rather than only by name.
Specialty license plates
 Defines specific license plates created through legislation, and that include a
combination of words, markings, logos, or other artwork in addition to the items
generally required by law, as “specialty license plates.”
 Specifies that the fees for renewing a specialty license plate must be the same as the
fees for initial issuance.
 Eliminates a prior intent statement that all applicants for a specialty license plate must
pay the standard motor vehicle registration taxes and fees.
 Eliminates the minimum annual sales requirement that had to be met for continued
issuance of a specialty license plate.
 Eliminates the annual report that certain school districts and schools were required to
submit to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and to the Registrar
regarding the use of the contributions derived from that district or school’s specialty
license plate.
 Makes technical changes to the specialty license plate law.
P a g e |5 H.B. 74
As Passed by the General Assembly
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Salvage certificates of title
 Permanently prohibits a clerk of court from issuing a salvage certificate of title if the
only basis for issuing the title is information reported from the National Motor Vehicle
Title Information System.
Electronic certificates of title
 Specifies that “certificate of title” and “title” include both physical and electronic copies
of a motor vehicle certificate of title.
 Authorizes the use of an electronic certificate of title for a casual sale of a motor vehicle.
 Requires the Registrar to develop an assignment form that may be used instead of a
physical certificate of title for certain casual sales of a motor vehicle and in certain sales
of a motor vehicle to a salvage dealer.
 Authorizes the Registrar and a deputy registrar to confirm proof of ownership
electronically when a person first registers a motor vehicle.
Transfer of ownership by law
 Authorizes two persons who wish to establish joint ownership with right of survivorship
to an all-purpose vehicle or off-highway motorcycle to make a joint application for the
certificate of title.
 Specifies that ownership to an all-purpose vehicle or off-highway motorcycle that is
titled between two owners who have joint ownership with right of survivorship passes
immediately to the surviving owner upon the death of the other owner.
 Authorizes owners of a motor vehicle, all-purpose vehicle, off-highway motorcycle,
watercraft, and outboard motor who have title through joint ownership with right of
survivorship to transfer that title through a transfer-on-death designation.
Online renewal of driver’s license and identification card
 Authorizes the Registrar to allow online renewal of a driver’s license and state
identification card (ID) for an eligible applicant.
 Specifies eligibility requirements for online renewal (e.g., the current license or ID was
processed in person, the applicant is applying for a four-year license, and the applicant
is not applying for a federally compliant Real ID).
 Specifies that the Registrar may require applicants to submit digital copies of any
required identification or supporting documents as required by state or federal law.
 Requires all applicants to comply with all other related driver’s license and ID laws (e.g.,
pay any necessary fees).
 Requires applications for other forms of identification issued by the BMV to be
submitted in person (e.g., first issuance of a federally compliant Real