130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2021
Legislative Document No. 1124
S.P. 387 In Senate, March 22, 2021
An Act To Change the Threshold for Creating a Specialty License
Plate from 2,000 Prepaid Orders to 1,000 Prepaid Orders and To
Extend by One Year the Time Allowed for Gathering Signatures
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on March 18, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator POULIOT of Kennebec.
Printed on recycled paper
 1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2 Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §456-E, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 547, §2, is amended
3 to read:
4 5. Payment for costs associated with the production and issuance of the first 2,000
5 plates. The sponsor of the breast cancer support services special registration plates shall
6 provide $40,000 to the Secretary of State for costs associated with the production and
7 issuance of plates. The Secretary of State shall deposit these funds in the Specialty License
8 Plate Fund, established under section 469. In accordance with section 468, subsection 3‑A,
9 the Secretary of State shall provide 2,000 credit receipts to the sponsor to provide to each
10 supporter that contributed $20. A credit receipt may be used only to obtain one set of breast
11 cancer support services special registration plates.
12 Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §456-G, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 73, §1, is amended
13 to read:
14 5. Payment for costs associated with the production and issuance of the first 2,000
15 plates. The sponsor of the Support Animal Welfare special registration plates shall provide
16 $50,000 to the Secretary of State for costs associated with the production and issuance of
17 plates. The Secretary of State shall deposit these funds in the Specialty License Plate Fund
18 established under section 469. In accordance with section 468, subsection 3‑A, the
19 Secretary of State shall provide 2,000 credit receipts to the sponsor to provide to each
20 supporter who contributed $25. A credit receipt may be used only to obtain one set of
21 Support Animal Welfare special registration plates.
22 Sec. 3. 29-A MRSA §456-H, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 400, §1, is
23 amended to read:
24 5. Payment for costs associated with the production and issuance of the first 2,000
25 plates. The sponsor of The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital special registration plates
26 shall provide $50,000 to the Secretary of State for costs associated with the production and
27 issuance of The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital registration plates. The Secretary of
28 State shall deposit these funds in the Specialty License Plate Fund established under section
29 469. In accordance with section 468, subsection 3‑A, the Secretary of State shall provide
30 2,000 credit receipts to the sponsor to provide to each supporter who contributed $25. A
31 credit receipt may be used only to obtain one set of special registration plates.
32 Sec. 4. 29-A MRSA §468, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 383, §5, is further
33 amended to read:
34 2. Names, signatures and payment. The Secretary of State may not manufacture an
35 authorized specialty license plate unless the sponsor:
36 A. Provides to the Secretary of State a list with 2,000 at least 1,000 names, dated
37 signatures and current plate numbers of supporters who have signed a statement
38 declaring they intend to purchase and display the specialty license plate; and
39 B. Collects from each supporter who signs the statement an amount of $25 for each
40 set of plates and provides to the Secretary of State the sum of these contributions in the
41 amount of $50,000, which is nonrefundable. If the sum of these contributions is less
42 than $50,000, the sponsor shall provide to the Secretary of State the difference between
43 the amount collected and $50,000, which is nonrefundable.
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 1 The Secretary of State shall deposit the $50,000 provided under paragraph B in the
2 Specialty License Plate Fund established under section 469.
3 Sec. 5. 29-A MRSA §468, sub-§3-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 383, §5, is
4 amended to read:
5 3-A. Credit receipts. The Secretary of State shall provide 2,000 credit receipts to the
6 sponsor to provide to each supporter that contributed $25. The credit receipt may be used
7 only to obtain one set of specialty license plates.
8 Sec. 6. 29-A MRSA §468, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2007, c. 383, §5, is further
9 amended to read:
10 7. Deadline for Secretary of State approval. The sponsor must submit to the
11 Secretary of State the names, signatures, payment and proposed design for the specialty
12 license plate by September 1st. The signatures must have been collected within 2 3 years
13 of submission to the Secretary of State. If the design is approved pursuant to subsection 5,
14 the Secretary of State shall submit proposed legislation seeking authorization of the
15 specialty license plate to the following regular session of the Legislature.
16 Sec. 7. 29-A MRSA §515-B, first ¶, as amended by PL 2003, c. 67, §1, is further
17 amended to read:
18 The Secretary of State, on application and upon evidence of payment of the excise tax
19 required by Title 36, section 1482, shall issue a registration certificate and a Purple Heart
20 motorcycle registration plate, to be used in lieu of a regular registration plate, to a person
21 who is a Purple Heart medal recipient. Notwithstanding section 468, the Secretary of State
22 may issue fewer than 2,000 1,000 of the plates authorized by this section, and this plate
23 does not require a sponsor.
24 Sec. 8. 29-A MRSA §523, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 734, §2, is
25 amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
26 Notwithstanding section 468, the Secretary of State may issue fewer than 2,000 1,000 of
27 the plates authorized by this subsection, and this plate does not require a sponsor. These
28 special designating plates must bear the word "Veteran."
29 Sec. 9. Retroactivity. This Act applies retroactively to September 1, 2019.
30 SUMMARY
31 This bill makes changes to the law relating to specialty license plates. The bill lowers
32 the number of signatures a sponsor of a proposed specialty license plate is required to
33 submit to the Secretary of State from 2,000 to 1,000. The bill provides that, if the sum of
34 contributions from supporters of a proposed specialty license plate is less than $50,000, the
35 sponsor is required to provide the difference between the amount collected and $50,000 to
36 the Secretary of State. The bill also increases from 2 years to 3 years the amount of time
37 allowed for a sponsor to collect signatures of supporters of a proposed specialty license
38 plate before submission to the Secretary of State. The bill also provides that these changes
39 apply retroactively to September 1, 2019 so that the changes apply to sponsors currently in
40 the 2-year window of meeting the specialty license plate requirements.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1124, SP 387: 29-A.456, 29-A.468, 29-A.515, 29-A.523