FINAL BILL REPORT

HB 1584

C 206 L 01

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Revising requirements for vehicle license renewal.

Sponsors:  By Representatives Haigh, Cooper, Ericksen and Morell; by request of Department of Licensing.

House Committee on Transportation

Senate Committee on Transportation

Background:

The registered owner of a vehicle must submit his or her last certificate of registration to renew a vehicle license.  However, because this language was written over 40 years ago, this requirement has now become obsolete with the advent of technology and automation.  Today, a vehicle license can be renewed a couple of ways: a) through the mail using the renewal notice sent by the Department of Licensing (DOL) to all vehicle owners; or b) by going into any DOL office and, with or without any documentation, simply giving the license plate number to the DOL employee who can then pull up the entire file on that vehicle via computer.  Thus, the need for a vehicle owner to provide the actual, hard-copy of the last certificate of registration is no longer needed to process the renewal and, because of this, has not been a business practice of the department for many years.

Summary:

To update statutory language to reflect the current business practices of the department, the requirement for a registered owner of a vehicle to submit the last certificate of registration to DOL when renewing their vehicle license is removed.

Votes on Final Passage:

House980

Senate470

Effective:  July 22, 2001