Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research | BILL ANALYSIS |
Transportation Committee |
HB 1387
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
Brief Description: Eliminating the periodic replacement requirement for license plates.
Sponsors: Representatives Orcutt, Springer, Reykdal, Pike, Vick, Nealey, Kochmar, Angel, Haler, Condotta, Ross, Shea, Harris, Takko, Dahlquist, Holy, Warnick, Appleton, Hargrove, Buys, Jinkins, Overstreet, Blake, Bergquist, Hunt, Hayes, Schmick, Haigh, Crouse, Tharinger, Kristiansen and Parker.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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Hearing Date: 2/26/13
Staff: Jerry Long (786-7306)
Background:
License plates are replaced periodically to ensure maximum legibility and reflectivity. The Department of Licensing (DOL) in 1997 (Substitute House Bill 1008) was directed to use empirical studies to document the longevity of the reflective material used to make license plates and determine how often license plates need to be replaced, providing the DOL authorization to adopt rules for implementation. The DOL began replacing license plates under this program in 2000.
Research conducted when the program started indicated seven years as the most common replacement cycle among states with similar programs. In 2006 the DOL hired an independent consultant to study the seven-year replacement program. At that time, the states that had license plate replacement programs ranged from five years to 10 years. The states surveyed had an average replacement cycle 6.8 years. The seven-year license plate replacement period is in Washington Administrative Code. The manufacturer's warranty on the license plate materials is five years.
There are a few type of plates that are exempt from the plate replacement program. These are: prorated vehicles over 16,000 pounds, commercial vehicles with declared gross weight over 26,000 pounds, collector vehicle plates, horseless carriage vehicle restored plates, plates issued to government agencies with exempt use class, and Medal of Honor license plates.
The plate replacement fee is $10 per plate and $2 for the reflective fee or $24 total for a set of license plates.
Summary of Bill:
The bill removes the requirement for license plates to be replaced periodically by the DOL.
The bill applies to vehicle registrations that are due or become due on or after July 1, 2014.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.