BILL REQ. #:  H-3068.3 

Read first time 01/12/12.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing for a veteran designation on drivers' licenses and identicards; amending RCW 46.20.161 and 46.20.117; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 46.20.161 and 2000 c 115 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department, upon receipt of a fee of twenty-five dollars, unless the driver's license is issued for a period other than five years, in which case the fee shall be five dollars for each year that the license is issued, which includes the fee for the required photograph, shall issue to every qualifying applicant a driver's license. A driver's license issued to a person under the age of eighteen is an intermediate license, subject to the restrictions imposed under RCW 46.20.075, until the person reaches the age of eighteen. The license must include a distinguishing number assigned to the licensee, the name of record, date of birth, Washington residence address, photograph, a brief description of the licensee, ((and)) either a facsimile of the signature of the licensee or a space upon which the licensee shall write his or her usual signature with pen and ink immediately upon receipt of the license, and, if applicable, the person's status as a veteran as provided in subsection (2) of this section. No license is valid until it has been so signed by the licensee.
     (2) A person may apply to the department to obtain a veteran designation on a driver's license issued under this section by providing the United States department of defense discharge document, DD Form 214, as it exists on the effective date of this section, or such subsequent date as may be provided by the department by rule, consistent with the purposes of this section, that shows a discharge status of "honorable" or "general under honorable conditions" that establishes the person's service in the armed forces of the United States. In addition to the fee described in subsection (1) of this section, the department may charge a fee sufficient to cover the start-up and administrative costs associated with the inclusion of the designation, but the fee may not exceed seven dollars and fifty cents per designation.

Sec. 2   RCW 46.20.117 and 2005 c 314 s 305 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Issuance. The department shall issue an identicard, containing a picture, if the applicant:
     (a) Does not hold a valid Washington driver's license;
     (b) Proves his or her identity as required by RCW 46.20.035; and
     (c) Pays the required fee. The fee is twenty dollars unless an applicant is a recipient of continuing public assistance grants under Title 74 RCW, who is referred in writing by the secretary of social and health services. For those persons the fee must be the actual cost of production of the identicard.
     (2)(a) Design and term. The identicard must:
     (((a))) (i) Be distinctly designed so that it will not be confused with the official driver's license; and
     (((b))) (ii) Expire on the fifth anniversary of the applicant's birthdate after issuance.
     (b) The identicard may include the person's status as a veteran, consistent with RCW 46.20.161(2).
     (3) Renewal. An application for identicard renewal may be submitted by means of:
     (a) Personal appearance before the department; or
     (b) Mail or electronic commerce, if permitted by rule of the department and if the applicant did not renew his or her identicard by mail or by electronic commerce when it last expired. However, the department may accept an application for renewal of an identicard submitted by means of mail or electronic commerce only if specific authority and funding is provided for this purpose by June 30, 2004, in the omnibus transportation appropriations act.
     An identicard may not be renewed by mail or by electronic commerce unless the renewal issued by the department includes a photograph of the identicard holder.
     (4) Cancellation. The department may cancel an identicard if the holder of the identicard used the card or allowed others to use the card in violation of RCW 46.20.0921.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act takes effect July 1, 2012.