RED WINGS, TIGERS PLATES S.B. 1459:
COMMITTEE SUMMARY
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Senate Bill 1459 (as introduced 9-9-08)
Sponsor: Senator Jud Gilbert, II
Committee: Transportation
Date Completed: 9-23-08
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to do the following:
-- Remove the current limit on State sponsored fund-raising license plates.
-- Provide for fund-raising plates or collector plates recognizing the Detroit Red Wings, and a fund-raising or collector plate recognizing the Detroit Tigers.
-- Create the "Detroit Red Wings Fund" and the "Detroit Tigers Fund", and require donations for those plates to be deposited into the respective Fund, to be distributed to the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and the Detroit Tigers Foundation.
-- Require those foundations, by February 1, 2010, to submit to the Secretary of State a summary of the previous year's expenditures of the money received under the bill.
The bill is described in detail below.
Plate Limit
The Code allows the Secretary of State (SOS) to develop up to eight State-sponsored fund-raising registration plates and matching State-sponsored collector plates at one time. The bill would remove that limit.
Red Wings & Tigers Plates
Under the bill, a fund-raising plate or collector plate recognizing the Detroit Red Wings or the Detroit Tigers would have to bear an appropriate logo. The Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers would have to submit a design for the respective logo to the SOS. The SOS would have to confer with the Michigan Department of State Police to ensure that the design would not compromise the ability of law enforcement agencies to identify specific vehicles accurately.
Registration plates bearing a Detroit Red Wings or a Detroit Tigers logo could not be a duplication of another registration plate. The Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers would have to comply with certain provisions in the Code regarding the design of special organization plates.
The bill would create the Detroit Red Wings Fund and the Detroit Tigers Fund within the State Treasury. The State Treasurer could receive money or other assets from any source
for deposit into the Funds. The Treasurer would have to direct the investment of the Funds and credit to them interest and earnings from Fund investments. Money in the Funds at the close of the fiscal year would have to remain in the Funds and not lapse to the State General Fund.
The SOS would have to transfer the donation money from the sale of fund-raising plates recognizing the Detroit Red Wings or the Detroit Tigers to the State Treasurer, who would have to credit the donation money to the appropriate Fund. The State Treasurer would have to disburse money in the Funds on a quarterly basis to the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and to the Detroit Tigers Foundation, as applicable.
Beginning by February 1, 2010, the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and the Detroit Tigers Foundation would have to submit to the Treasurer a summary of the expenditures during the preceding year of the money received under the bill.
MCL 257.811e et al. Legislative Analyst: Curtis Walker
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would create a start-up cost to the Department of State. The start-up fee of $15,000 prescribed in the Code would be paid to the Department, separately from the Detroit Red Wings Fund and the Detroit Tigers Fund proposed in the bill.
The bill would have no fiscal impact on local government.
Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb1459/0708