Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2066, as amended, amends three statutes relating to proof of motor vehicle insurance and the penalty for reinstating a motor vehicle registration that has been suspended or revoked for failure to maintain the required coverage.

The bill will require, at the time of registration or renewal of a registration of a motor vehicle, that the applicant provide proof of insurance, self insurance, or other financial security. Proof of insurance may be demonstrated by:

• an insurance card issued by an insurance company;



• a policy of insurance;



• a binder of insurance;



• a motor carrier identification number issued by the State Corporation Commission;



• a certificate of self insurance issued by the Insurance Commissioner as proof of insurance for vehicles in a fleet; and



• for vehicles used in a drivers education program, a dealership contract and a copy of a motor vehicle liability insurance policy issued to a school district or accredited nonpublic school.

If registration or renewal is by mail, proof of insurance could be demonstrated by providing a photocopy of any of the documents acceptable as verification of insurance.

Additionally, the owner of a vehicle must certify that the applicant has and will maintain during the registration period the required insurance, self insurance, or other financial security required by Kansas law.

The House Committee amendment relates to the fees charged for reinstating the registration of a motor vehicle suspended or revoked for failure to maintain continuous coverage. The reinstatement fee is increased from $25 to $100. If the registration had been revoked within one year of a prior revocation, the reinstatement fee would be $300, up from $75. The bill also provides for a new fine of not less than $300 nor more than a $1,000 for failure to maintain continuous coverage.

Also, as further amended, the bill increases from not less than $200 to not less than $300 the fine for violating the law requiring motor vehicle insurance. For subsequent convictions of this law within a three-year period, the penalty will be a fine of not less than $800 nor more than $2,500.

The bill is amended to change the effective date to January 1, 2000.

Background

The sponsor of the legislation explained that the bill will help reduce the problem of 150,000 to 180,000 uninsured motorists on Kansas streets and highways by requiring persons registering vehicles to show proof of insurance at the time of registration or renewal of a vehicle registration.

The bill, as amended, was supported by the Insurance Commissioner, representatives of American Family Insurance, and the Kansas Motor Carriers Association.

Opponents of the bill included the Kansas County Treasurers' Association and the representative of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies.

The Department of Revenue indicated the fiscal impact of the bill would be significant additional postage costs in high population counties and approximately $51,522 for computer programming changes. However, that amount could be reduced if the effective date of the bill were changed to a later date, thereby allowing counties time to make in-house computer programming changes to accommodate the 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.