2023 -- H 5954 SUBSTITUTE A
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LC002237/SUB A
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
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AN ACT
RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES
Introduced By: Representatives Vella-Wilkinson, Morales, Noret, Casimiro, Finkelman,
and Solomon
Date Introduced: March 01, 2023
Referred To: House Special Legislation
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 31-6-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-6 entitled "Registration
2 Fees" is hereby amended to read as follows:
3 31-6-8. Disabled veterans.
4 (a) Any veteran who has been honorably discharged from the service of the armed forces
5 or the merchant marine of the United States in any of the wars or campaigns in which the United
6 States has been engaged and who, while engaged in these wars or campaigns or as a result of
7 engagement in these wars or campaigns, by reason of amputation, has lost one or both of his or her
8 arms, hands, feet, or legs, or who, by reason of other permanent injury, has lost the use of one or
9 both of his or her arms, hands, feet, or legs, or to whom has been granted a motor vehicle under
10 chapter 870-2D, United States Public Laws 663, enacted 1946, 79th Congress, or has suitable
11 documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to establish that the veteran:
12 (1) Has a combined service connected disability rating of one hundred percent (100%); or
13 (2) Is considered “individually unemployable” due to his or her service-connected
14 disability, shall be exempt from the payment of any fee for the annual registration of and a license
15 to operate that motor vehicle.
16 (b) The administrator for the division of motor vehicles shall issue to an eligible veteran
17 for use on an automobile, or on a commercial vehicle having a gross weight of six thousand three
18 hundred pounds (6,300 lbs.) twelve thousand pounds (12,000 lbs.) or less, registration plates
19 designated “Disabled Veteran.” Provided that:
1 (1) Upon certification that the veteran is no longer able to operate a vehicle, the "Disabled
2 Veteran" plates may be transferred, during their lifetime, to the veteran's spouse or caretaker; and
3 (2) Upon the death of the holder initial registrant of the “Disabled Veteran” plates, the
4 plates may be transferred to his or her surviving spouse for his or her lifetime or until he or she
5 remarries. Only one set of
6 (c) “Disabled Veteran” plates shall be issued to an eligible veteran and or their spouse or
7 caretaker as provided for in subsection (b)(1) of this section only after certification of eligibility
8 from the Veterans’ Administration or other satisfactory documentation of eligibility is presented.
9 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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 EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
AN ACT
RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES
***
1 This act would permit disabled veterans to be issued more than one set of disabled veteran
2 license plates, and would permit the plates to be transferred to the veteran's spouse or caretaker
3 under certain conditions.
4 This act would take effect upon passage.
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Statutes affected:
5954  SUB A: 31-6-8
5954: 31-6-8