Brief(1)
S.B. 51, as amended, relates to motor vehicles and to speed limits on certain routes.
Children's Trust Fund. The bill would authorize the Department of Revenue, on and after July 1, 1999, to issue distinctive license plates on behalf of the Kansas Children's Trust Fund governed by the Governor's Advisory Committee on Children. Specifically, the bill would:
allow the Committee's logo to be silk-screened on distinctive license plates and issued to owners or lessees of passenger vehicles or trucks with a registered gross weight of 20,000 pounds or less;
require the Committee to pay the initial cost of silk-screening the logo on the license plates;
allow the Committee to charge an application fee between $25 and $100 for the use of its logo;
require the Committee, with approval of the Director of Vehicles, to design the distinctive license plate;
provide that logo royalty payments to the Family and Children Trust Account of the Family and Children Investment Fund be used to fund local programs for child abuse and neglect prevention purposes;
require the Committee to provide county treasurers with a toll-free telephone number where applicants can call to apply for the Kansas Children's Trust Fund plate;
exempt the license plates from the $40 fee required for all new distinctive plates authorized after July 1, 1994; and
require the Committee to guarantee to the Department of Revenue the sale of at least 500 plates before the plates could be issued.
Other Distinctive License Plates. The bill would allow, on and after July 1, 1999, the Division of Vehicles to issue distinctive license plates to owners or lessees of passenger vehicles or trucks with a registered gross weight of 20,000 pounds or less. Such plates would be issued to:
The same registered gross weight limitation requirements of 20,000 pounds or less would apply to applicants of personalized license plates.
Driver's Licenses. On and after July 1, 1999, first-time driver's license applicants under the age of 18, applicants for a restricted driver's license under the age of 16, or applicants for a farm permit before reaching 16 years of age must submit a signed affidavit of a parent or guardian stating that the applicant has completed at least 50 hours of adult supervised driving with at least ten of those hours being at night. Adults responsible for supervising the 50-hour actual driving experience of the applicant must be at least 21 years of age and hold a valid Class A, B, C, or commercial driver's license.
Evidence of failure of such licensees to complete the 50 hours of adult supervised driving will not be admissible for determining any aspect of comparative negligence or mitigation of damages.
Beginning July 1, 1999, and thereafter, a holder of a farm permit or a holder of a restricted driver's license convicted of two or more traffic violations committed on separate occasions would be prohibited from receiving an unrestricted driver's license until they reach 17 years of age. In addition, the bill makes it a moving violation for such licensees to operate a motor vehicle with nonsibling passengers.
The bill would suspend driving privileges of any person under 21 years of age for a year, or for the term of a diversion agreement, for failing a test, or for having an alcohol or drug-related conviction.
Division of Vehicles Records. The bill would allow a requesting party who verifies or reports information from the title and registration records of the Division of Vehicles to purchase such records at a bulk rate.
Speed Limits. The bill provides that on and after the effective date of the act until June 30, 2000, the maximum speed limit one-half mile before through one-fourth mile past the following intersections shall be 50 miles per hour:
The Act would take effect upon publication in the Kansas Register.
Background
The bill, as amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole, pertains only to the issuance of distinctive and personalized license plates to cars or trucks with a registered gross weight of 20,000 pound or less.
The House Transportation Committee amendments pertain to the Children's Trust Fund, driver's license restrictions and penalties, and to title and registration records of the Division of Vehicles.
The House Committee of the Whole amendments would allow a person who leases a passenger vehicle or truck with a registered gross weight of not more than 20,000 pounds to be issued a distinctive plate, and would set a maximum speed limit of 50 miles per hour in those areas noted in the brief.
The Department of Revenue estimates the implementation of the provision of the Children's Trust Fund would cost $3,091 for programming and $5,875 for the labor and materials needed to produce the plate. Assuming the Committee establishes an annual application fee of $50 and issues all 500 license plates in FY 2000. The bill would produce $25,000 in revenues to the Children's Trust Fund.
The Department estimates that the provisions of this bill that extend the ability to apply for these distinctive plates to owners of vehicles registered for 20,000 pounds or less will result in fewer than 1,000 additional applications. Under current law, personalized, amateur radio operator and disabled plates are available to owners of vehicles registered between 12,001 and 16,000 pounds. There were 422 of these vehicles registered in calendar year 1998. It is not known how many owners of vehicles registered between 12,001 and 20,000 pounds will apply for these distinctive plates, however, if 1,000 additional applications are received, during FY 2000, the State Highway Fund would realize an increase of $40,000 (1,000 x $40 personalized license plate fee). This additional revenue would be generated every five years when these distinctive plates are reissued.
The Department indicates that the provisions relating to driver's licenses in the bill would cost about $2,010 in programming costs. There would also be some minor forms revision costs amounting to about $2,000 associated with the implementation of this bill.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.