March 19, 2013, Introduced by Senators HUNTER, HANSEN, COLBECK, JONES, MARLEAU, JANSEN and GREEN and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 224 (MCL 257.224), as amended by 2012 PA 491.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 224. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this act
regarding tabs or stickers, upon registering a vehicle, the
secretary of state shall issue to the owner 1 registration plate.
(2) A registration plate shall display the registration number
assigned to the vehicle for which the registration plate is issued;
the name of this state, which may be abbreviated; and when the
registration plate expires, which may be shown by a tab or sticker
furnished by the secretary of state.
(3) A registration plate issued for motor vehicles owned and
operated by this state; a state institution; a municipality; a
privately incorporated, nonprofit volunteer fire department; or a
nonpublic, nonprofit college or university of this state shall not
expire at any particular time but shall be renewed when the
registration plate is worn out or is illegible. This registration
plate shall be assigned upon proper application and payment of the
applicable fee and may be used on any eligible vehicle titled to
the applicant if a written record is kept of the vehicles upon
which the registration plate is used. The written record shall
state the time the registration plate is used on a particular
vehicle. The record shall be open to inspection by a law
enforcement officer or a representative of the secretary of state.
(4) A registration plate issued for a vehicle owned by the
civil air patrol as organized under 36 USC 201 to 208; a vehicle
owned by a nonprofit organization and used to transport equipment
for providing dialysis treatment to children at camp; an emergency
support vehicle used exclusively for emergencies and owned and
operated by a federally recognized nonprofit charitable
organization; a vehicle owned and operated by a nonprofit veterans
center; a motor vehicle having a truck chassis and a locomotive or
ship's
body which that is owned by a nonprofit veterans
organization
and used exclusively in parades and civic events; a
vehicle
owned and operated by a nonprofit recycling center or a
federally
recognized nonprofit conservation organization until
December
31, 2000; a motor vehicle owned and
operated by a senior
citizen center; and a registration plate issued for buses including
station wagons, carryalls, or similarly constructed vehicles owned
and operated by a nonprofit parents' transportation corporation
used for school purposes, parochial school, society, church Sunday
school, or other grammar school, or by a nonprofit youth
organization or nonprofit rehabilitation facility shall be issued
upon proper application and payment of the applicable tax provided
in section 801(1)(g) or (h) to the applicant for the vehicle
identified in the application. The vehicle shall be used
exclusively for activities of the school or organization and shall
be designated by proper signs showing the school or organization
operating
the vehicle. The registration plate shall expire expires
on December 31 in the fifth year following the date of issuance.
The registration plate may be transferred to another vehicle upon
proper application and payment of a $10.00 transfer fee.
(5) The department shall not issue or transfer a standard
design beads on paint registration plate or issue a registration
tab or sticker for that plate, but shall offer a new standard
design registration plate that complies with the requirements of
this act. The new standard design registration plate shall be of a
common color scheme and design that is made of fully reflectorized
material and shall be clearly visible at night. As an alternative
to the standard design registration plate required under this
subsection, the secretary of state shall develop and offer a
vehicle registration plate with the words "In God We Trust"
inscribed on the plate. The "In God We Trust" vehicle registration
plate shall comply with the requirements of this act. The
implementation of this subsection is contingent upon appropriations
sufficient to cover the costs to the department of designing,
manufacturing, distributing, and issuing the new standard design
registration
plate. The secretary of state shall file a written
report
with the secretary of the senate and the clerk of the house
of
representatives of the costs incurred and revenue expended to
meet
the requirements of this subsection within 30 days after all
of
the standard design beads on paint registration plates to be
replaced
under this subsection have been replaced.
(6) The department may use the Pure Michigan brand or a
successor or similar brand that is used in conjunction with the
state's promotion, travel, and tourism campaigns or marketing
efforts as part of the standard design for registration plates.
(7) The registration plate and the required letters and
numerals on the registration plate shall be of sufficient size to
be plainly readable from a distance of 100 feet during daylight.
The secretary of state may issue a tab or tabs designating the
month and year of expiration.
(8) The secretary of state shall issue for every passenger
motor vehicle rented without a driver the same type of registration
plate as the type of registration plate issued for private
passenger vehicles.
(9) A person shall not operate a vehicle on the public
highways or streets of this state displaying a registration plate
other than the registration plate issued for the vehicle by the
secretary of state, except as provided in this chapter for
nonresidents, and by assignment provided in subsection (3).
(10) The registration plate displayed on a vehicle registered
on the basis of elected gross weight shall indicate the elected
gross weight for which the vehicle is registered.