Indicates Matter Stricken s23

1 Indicates Matter Stricken 2 Indicates New Matter 3 4 AS PASSED BY THE SENATE 5 February 18, 1999 6 7 S. 150 8 9 Introduced by Senators Wilson, Elliott, Leventis, Branton, Hayes 10 and Reese 11 12 S. Printed 2/18/99--S. 13 Read the first time January 12, 1999. 14 15 16

1 [150-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-1815, CODE OF LAWS OF 12 SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE 13 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY’S AUTHORITY TO 14 ISSUE SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES TO RETIRED MEMBERS 15 OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA NATIONAL GUARD, SO AS TO 16 PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO ISSUE A 17 SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE TO A MEMBER OF THE SOUTH 18 CAROLINA STATE GUARD; TO AMEND SECTION 19 56-3-1820, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE DESIGN OF, 20 FEE FOR, AND DURATION OF THE NATIONAL GUARD 21 SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE AND THE DENOTATION OF A 22 RETIRED NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER’S STATUS ON THE 23 LICENSE PLATE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE SPECIAL 24 LICENSE PLATE MAY HAVE NATIONAL GUARD OR 25 STATE GUARD ALSO PRINTED ON IT WITH NUMBERS, OR 26 LETTERS, OR BOTH, AND TO DELETE THE 27 REQUIREMENT THAT A RETIRED NATIONAL GUARD 28 MEMBER’S RETIRED STATUS MUST BE DENOTED ON 29 THE SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE; TO AMEND SECTION 30 56-3-1830, RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF A NATIONAL 31 GUARD SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE TO ANOTHER VEHICLE, 32 ITS DISPLAY ON AN UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLE, AND ITS 33 RETURN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 34 ONCE THE HOLDER CEASES TO BE A MEMBER OF THE 35 NATIONAL GUARD, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THIS 36 PROVISION APPLIES TO A STATE GUARD SPECIAL 37 LICENSE PLATE; AND TO REPEAL SECTIONS 56-3-4710, 38 56-3-4720, 56-3-4730, AND 56-3-4740 RELATING TO THE 39 ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES FOR MEMBERS 40 OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE GUARD. 41 Amend Title To Conform 42

1 [150] 1 1 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 2 Carolina: 3 4 SECTION 1. Section 56-3-1815 of the 1976 Code is amended to 5 read: 6 7 “Section 56-3-1815. The department may issue a special motor 8 vehicle license plates plate to a retired members member of the 9 South Carolina National Guard, if the applicant for a special 10 license plate is certified as a retired member of the National Guard 11 by the Adjutant General and may issue a special motor vehicle 12 license plate to a member of the South Carolina State Guard who is 13 a resident of the State for a private passenger motor vehicle owned 14 by a member or a retiree.” 15 16 SECTION 2. Section 56-3-1820 of the 1976 Code, as last 17 amended by Act 425 of 1996, is further amended to read: 18 19 “Section 56-3-1820. The special license plates must be of the 20 same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license 21 plates upon which must be imprinted on a decal to be affixed upon 22 the top of the license plate ‘Air National Guard’, ‘Army National 23 Guard’, ‘National Guard Retired’, or ‘State Guard’ and the figure 24 of the ‘Minute Man’ with numbers, the department may determine. 25 Special license plates for retired members of the National Guard 26 must denote the member’s retired status in the location and manner 27 determined by the department or letters, or both, as determined by 28 the department permanently imprinted on the license plate. The 29 biennial fee for the special license plates plate is the regular motor 30 vehicle registration fee prescribed by Article 5 of this chapter. The 31 plates must be issued for biennial periods November first to 32 October thirty-first.” 33 34 SECTION 3. Section 56-3-1830 of the 1976 Code is amended to 35 read: 36 37 “Section 56-3-1830. License plates issued pursuant to this 38 article may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight 39 class owned by the same person upon application being made 40 therefor and approved by the department. It is unlawful for any 41 person to whom the plates have been issued to knowingly permit 42 them to be displayed on any vehicle except the one authorized by 43 the department. If a holder of a special license plates plate ceases

1 [150] 2 1 to be an active member of the National Guard or the State Guard, 2 he shall immediately shall return the plates to the department.” 3 4 SECTION 4. Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by 5 adding: 6 7 “Article 78 8 9 License Plates on Behalf of the H. L. Hunley Submarine 10 11 Section 56-3-7910. (A) The department may issue special 12 motor vehicle license plates to owners of private 13 passenger-carrying motor vehicles or light pickups having an 14 empty weight of five thousand pounds or less and a gross weight 15 of eight thousand pounds or less registered in their names which 16 may have imprinted on the plate an emblem, a seal, logo, or other 17 symbol of the H.L. Hunley submarine. The Hunley Commission 18 shall submit to the department for its approval the emblem, seal, 19 logo, or other symbol it desires to be used for this special license 20 plate. The Hunley Commission may request a change in the 21 emblem, seal, logo, or other symbol not more than once every five 22 years. The fee for this special license plate is one hundred dollars 23 every two years in addition to the regular motor vehicle 24 registration fee set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title. This 25 special license plate must be of the same size and general design 26 of regular motor vehicle license plates. The special license plates 27 must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires 28 twenty-four months from the month they are issued. 29 (B) The fees collected pursuant to this section must be 30 distributed to the Fund to Save the Hunley created by the Hunley 31 Commission or another nonprofit fund designated by the 32 commission for the continued curation of the Hunley submarine. 33 Any such fund must be administered by the Hunley Commission 34 and may be used only for efforts to raise, restore, and preserve the 35 Hunley submarine. Any funds collected must be deposited in an 36 appropriate nonprofit account designated by the Hunley 37 Commission. The distribution shall be based on the total number 38 of special license plates sold as follows: 39 (1) one thousand or less total special license plates sold: 40 fifty-two dollars to the department and forty-eight dollars to the 41 Hunley Commission for each special license plate sold; 42 (2) more than one thousand and less than two thousand total 43 special license plates sold: forty-two dollars to the department and

1 [150] 3 1 fifty-eight dollars to the Hunley Commission for each special 2 license plate sold; 3 (3) two thousand or more total special license plates sold: 4 thirty dollars to the department and seventy dollars to the Hunley 5 Commission for each special license plate sold. 6 (C) The department shall reserve the first twelve license plates 7 for use by the Hunley Commission.” 8 9 SECTION 5. Section 56-3-620 of the 1976 Code of Laws, as 10 amended, is further amended to read: 11 12 “(A) For persons sixty-five years of age or older, or persons who 13 are handicapped, as defined in Section 56-3-1950, the biennial 14 registration fee for every private passenger motor vehicle, 15 excluding trucks, is twenty dollars. 16 (B) Beginning July 1, 1987, for persons under the age of 17 sixty-five years the biennial registration fee for every private 18 passenger motor vehicle, excluding trucks, is twenty-four dollars. 19 (C) For persons sixty-five years of age or older, the biennial 20 registration fee for a property-carrying vehicle with a gross weight 21 of five six thousand pounds or less is thirty dollars. 22 (D) For persons who are sixty-four years of age, the biennial 23 registration fee for a private passenger motor vehicle, excluding 24 trucks, is twenty-two dollars. 25 (E) Applicable truck fees, established by Section 56-3-660, are 26 not negated by this section.” 27 28 SECTION 6. Section 56-3-630, of the 1976 Code, is amended to 29 read: 30 31 “56-3-630. The department shall classify as a private passenger 32 motor vehicle every motor vehicle, except a motorcycle or motor- 33 driven cycle, which is designed, used, and maintained for the 34 transportation of ten or fewer persons and trucks having an empty 35 weight of five six thousand pounds or less and a gross weight of 36 eight nine thousand pounds or less. This section does not relieve 37 or negate any applicable fees required under Section 56-3-660.” 38 39 SECTION 7. Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended 40 by adding: 41 42 “Article 81 43

1 [150] 4 1 Nonprofit Organization License Plates 2 3 Section 56-3-8000. (A) The department may issue special 4 motor vehicle license plates to owners of private 5 passenger-carrying motor vehicles or light pickups having an 6 empty weight of five thousand pounds or less and a gross weight 7 of eight thousand pounds or less registered in their names which 8 may have imprinted on the plate the emblem, a seal, or other 9 symbol the department considers appropriate of an organization 10 which has obtained certification pursuant to Section 501(C)(3) of 11 the Federal Internal Revenue Code. The fee for this special license 12 plate is the fee contained in Section 56-3-2020. 13 The special license plate must be issued or revalidated for a 14 biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month 15 it is issued. 16 (B) Before the department produces and distributes a plate 17 authorized under this section, it must receive: 18 (1) three hundred or more prepaid applications for the special 19 license plate or a deposit of four thousand dollars from the 20 individual or organization seeking issuance of the license plate; 21 (2) a plan to market the sale of the special license plate which 22 must be approved by the department. 23 (C) If the department receives less than three hundred biennial 24 applications and renewals for a particular plate authorized under 25 this section, it shall not produce additional plates in that series. The 26 department shall continue to issue plates of that series until the 27 existing inventory is exhausted. 28 (D) Only certified members of organizations, as set forth by the 29 organization, may be issued a special license plate pursuant to this 30 section. Each certified member may only apply for one special 31 license plate for each vehicle registered in his name. 32 (E) License plates issued pursuant to this section shall not 33 contain a reference to a private or public college or university in 34 this State or use symbols, designs, or logos of these institutions 35 without the institution’s written authorization. 36 (F) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all funds 37 collected pursuant to this section must be deposited into an account 38 in the Office of the Treasurer and called the ‘Special License Plate 39 Fund’. Monies credited to the fund may only be expended to 40 defray the costs of this section. 41 (G) The department may alter, modify, or refuse to produce any 42 special license plate that it deems offensive or fails to meet 43 community standards.”

1 [150] 5 1 2 SECTION 8. The first paragraph of Section 56-3-1910 of the 3 1976 Code is amended to read: 4 5 “ Upon payment of the regular motor vehicle license fee, the 6 department may issue a license tag with a special number or 7 identification indicating that the tag was issued to a person (a) 8 disabled by an impairment in the use of one or more limbs and 9 required to use a wheelchair or (b) disabled by an impairment in 10 mobility, but otherwise qualified for a driver’s license as 11 determined by the department. The department must also issue a 12 special motorcycle license tag to an individual who meets the 13 requirements of this Section. Each application for the license must 14 be accompanied by the certificate of a licensed physician as 15 defined in Section 40-47-5 as to the permanency of limb 16 impairment or as to the severity or the permanency of mobility 17 impairment.” 18 19 SECTION 9. Sections 56-3-4710, 56-3-4720, 56-3-4730, and 20 56-3-4740 of the 1976 Code are repealed. 21 22 SECTION 10. This act takes effect upon approval by the 23 Governor. 24 ----XX----

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