BILL REQ. #:  H-4198.1 

Read first time 01/13/10.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to the authorization of special license plates; and amending RCW 46.16.725.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 46.16.725 and 2009 c 470 s 710 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The creation of the board does not in any way preclude the authority of the legislature to independently propose and enact special license plate legislation.
     (2) The board must review and either approve or reject special license plate applications submitted by sponsoring organizations. Legislative approval is required to authorize new special license plates.
     (3) Duties of the board include but are not limited to the following:
     (a) Review and approve the annual financial reports submitted by sponsoring organizations with active special license plate series and present those annual financial reports to the senate and house transportation committees;
     (b) Report annually to the senate and house transportation committees on the special license plate applications that were considered by the board;
     (c) Issue approval and rejection notification letters to sponsoring organizations, the department, the chairs of the senate and house of representatives transportation committees, and the legislative sponsors identified in each application. The letters must be issued within seven days of making a determination on the status of an application;
     (d) Review annually the number of plates sold for each special license plate series created after January 1, 2003. The board may submit a recommendation to discontinue a special plate series to the chairs of the senate and house of representatives transportation committees;
     (e) Provide policy guidance and directions to the department concerning the adoption of rules necessary to limit the number of special license plates that an organization or a governmental entity may apply for.
     (4) Except as provided in chapter 72, Laws of 2008, in order to assess the effects and impact of the proliferation of special license plates, the legislature declares a temporary moratorium on the issuance of any additional plates until July 1, 2011. During this period of time, the special license plate review board created in RCW 46.16.705 and the department of licensing are prohibited from accepting, reviewing, processing, or approving any applications. Additionally, no special license plate may be enacted by the legislature during the moratorium, unless the proposed license plate has been approved by the board before February 15, 2005.