May 10, 2017, Introduced by Senator SCHMIDT and referred to the Committee on Transportation.
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 224 (MCL 257.224), as amended by 2013 PA 179.
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 does
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 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 offer a standard design registration
plate that complies with the requirements of this act. The standard
design registration plate shall be of a common color scheme and
design
that is made of fully reflectorized material and shall be is
clearly visible at night. No later than January 1,2018, the
department shall use a digital printing method to create all
standard design registration plates. As used in this subsection,
"digital printing method" means a method of creating a registration
plate using a retroflective sheeting material that is printed
utilizing UV-curable ink-jet technology to achieve the highest
quality and speed of printing.
(6) The department may use the Pure Michigan brand or a
successor or similar brand that is used in conjunction with this
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, or by assignment as 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.
(11) Beginning on January 1, 2015, the secretary of state
shall not renew a registration plate issued by the department under
this
section shall not be renewed 10 years after the date that
registration plate was issued. The owner of a vehicle whose
registration plate is no longer eligible for renewal under this
subsection shall obtain a replacement registration plate upon
payment of the fee required under section 804. For any alphanumeric
series that the department has retired from circulation, upon
request of the owner of a vehicle whose registration plate is no
longer eligible for renewal under this subsection, the department
may issue a new registration plate with the same registration
number as was displayed on the expired registration plate as
provided under section 803b.
(12)
The secretary of state, in conjunction with the
department
of corrections, the Michigan state police, the Michigan
sheriffs'
association, 1 individual appointed by the speaker of the
house
of representatives, and 1 individual appointed by the senate
majority
leader, shall prepare a report analyzing the viability of
moving
from the current registration plate production process to a
digital
printing of registration plates. The secretary of state
shall
submit the report to the standing committees of the senate
and
house of representatives with primary responsibility for
transportation
issues no later than December 31, 2013.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.