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Minutes for HB2599 - Committee on Transportation
Short Title
Special olympics Kansas license plate.
Minutes Content for Thu, Mar 8, 2018
Chairperson Petersen opened the hearing on the bill. Mr. Wells gave an overview. He said this bill provides for a number of new distinctive license plates. As amended, this bill authorizes Special Olympics Kansas, Choose Life, and City of Wichita license plates for issuance on or after January 1, 2019.
For the Special Olympics Kansas license plate, Mr. Wells said, Special Olympics Kansas would reimburse the Division of Vehicles (Department of Revenue) up to $20,000 for the cost of designing the plate and implementing the plan and must have 500 commitments before a plate is produced.
Mr. Wells said the Choose Life license plate is different; because there is no sponsoring organization and no royalty fee, it would be exempted from the $20,000 payment to the Department of Revenue, but there must be 1,000 orders for a Choose Life license plate before it is produced.
For the City of Wichita license plate, the sponsor is the City of Wichita, there is a royalty payment of between $25 and $100 for use of the logo, the fee goes to benefit the Wichita Parks Foundation, the fee of up to $20,000 is to be paid to the Department of Revenue, and 500 plates must be ordered before production begins.
Senator Hawk asked who approves the design of the plate. Mr. Wells said the Department of Revenue works with the organization or sponsoring group on an approved design.
Senator Pettey asked what happens if there is no sponsoring organization. Mr. Wells said that would be treated like the "In God We Trust" license plate. Anyone who wants the plate would pay $40 for the distinctive license plate and the Division of Vehicles would help with the design. The cost of the license plate is reimbursed to the Department of Revenue to cover production expense. No organization would be receiving funds from the plate itself.
Deb Wiley, Public Service Administrator, Division of Vehicles (DOV), answered questions. She said there are requirements for the design--background color, reflectivity, law enforcement visibility, differentiation between background and lettering, and visibility in light and dark. The Division works with Center Industries on design, colors, and material. When there is a sponsoring organization, DOV works with those individuals or advocacy groups on the digital logo design, sometimes with a trademark, and care is taken in designing and ordering the plate. There are some advocacy groups that are interested in how the plate looks, they receive a sample of the plate, and there is a formal approval process.
Senator Hawk asked about collaboration in a plate that represents Kansas and not just Wichita. He thought the plate was to have "Wichita" on it as suggested in this Committee's hearing on a bill with those contents (SB273, January 24). Ms. Wiley said DOV is working with the City of Wichita to address this and to meet its goals. She added that the DOV has final approval and could insist that a group follow a guideline, but parties have always been able to compromise. Senator Hawk said he could see some situations that could be a little dicey. Chairperson Petersen said there was final agreement on the Horse Council license plate on colors and contrast, and Ms. Wiley said the Horse Council license plate was one of the most challenging.
John Lair, President and CEO, Special Olympics Kansas, Inc., provided proponent testimony (Attachment 2). Since Special Olympics Kansas was established, in 1968, work has been directed to move people with intellectual disabilities from the sidelines to the playing fields. Now at the 50-year anniversary, the organization's goal is looking at more than its athletes in the sports arena. The new goal is to build communities of inclusion across Kansas, communities that take the Special Olympics lead to help guide policies, so individuals with intellectual disabilities are able to live as productive members of society, and so the public no longer focuses on disabilities but celebrates the abilities in each person.
Josh Alters, a Special Olympics athlete who competes on the Topeka Shawnee Team, was introduced by Mr. Lair. Mr. Alters provided proponent testimony (Attachment 3). He said he represents all the Special Olympics athletes in the State of Kansas who would receive funding from the Special Olympics Kansas license plate. He competes in seven sports: basketball, bocce, bowling, softball, volleyball, swimming, and track and field. Diagnosed with Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes various developmental and health problems, Mr. Alters said he was bullied as a child, and Special Olympics gave him a place to achieve great things and be accepted for who he is. Representing Special Olympics in Kansas, Mr. Alters said, he would appreciate the Committee's favorable consideration.
In summary, Mr. Lair said with the passage of the Special Olympics license plate bill, each Kansan will be able to show support of athletes in their hometowns while building communities of inclusion.
Marlee Carpenter, Lobbyist, City of Wichita, provided proponent testimony, which was Wichita Vice-Mayor Bryan Frye's previous testimony on SB273 (Attachment 4). She had provided comments on the hearing on the Senate bill, which did not pass the Senate Chamber before turnaround. The group from Wichita was able to get an amendment on the House Special Olympics license plate bill to keep the Wichita license plate bill moving. The Wichita plates will provide $75,000 to $100,000 to make improvements in the city parks. Comments from the Committee members were taken into consideration and she distributed a new design that has "Wichita Flag Est. 1937" placed on the lower part of the license plate (Attachment 5). She hopes the change addresses the Committee's concerns. Senator Hardy said he thinks the resulting plate satisfies the concerns expressed.
Senator Richard Hilderbrand gave proponent testimony (Attachment 6) addressing the Choose Life aspect of the bill. He said he supports all three license plates; each has its value, and all who support should be well commended for their efforts. He said he testified on Choose Life as a Senate bill (SB397), and as it is now in this House bill, he voices his support and asked for favorable consideration by the Committee.
Senator Pettey asked who will get 1,000 orders of the plate before it would be produced. Senator Hilderbrand said organizations and others will encourage people to purchase the plate. He did not know whether the Kansas Catholic Conference was promoting the plate.
Written-only proponent testimony was furnished by Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau (Attachment 7) and Michael Schuttloffel, Executive Director, Kansas Catholic Conference (Attachment 8).
There were no opponents or neutral testimony.
The hearing was closed.
