06 LC 34
0517
House
Bill 1053
By:
Representatives Mills of the
25th,
Rice of the
51st,
Ehrhart of the
36th,
Keen of the
179th,
Fleming of the
117th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to prestige license plates and special plates for certain
persons and vehicles, so as to provide for a special license plate promoting the
national motto, "In God We Trust"; to provide for a portion of the revenue to go
to the Boy Scouts of America; to provide for issuance, renewal, fees, licensing
agreements, applications, and transfers relative to such special license plates;
to provide for related matters; to provide a contingent effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
3 of Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to prestige license plates and special plates for certain persons and vehicles,
is amended by adding a new Code Section 40-2-86.18 to read as
follows:
∀40-2-86.18.
(a)
The commissioner, in cooperation with supporters of this license plate, shall
design a special license plate to be issued displaying the national motto, 'In
God We Trust.' The license plates must be of the same size as general issue
motor vehicle license plates and shall include a unique design and identifying
number, whereby the total number of characters does not exceed six. It shall
not be a requirement that a county name decal shall be fixed and displayed on
license plates issued under this Code section. The graphic on the special
license plate shall be placed to the left of the alphanumeric characters and
shall be no larger than three inches by three inches.
(b)
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Code section, this Code section
shall not be implemented until such time as the State of Georgia has, through a
licensing agreement or otherwise, received such licenses or other permissions as
may be required to implement this Code section. The design of the initial
edition of the 'In God We Trust' license plates, as well as the design of
subsequent editions and excepting only any part or parts of the designs owned by
others and licensed to the state, shall be owned solely by the State of Georgia
for its exclusive use and control, except as authorized by the commissioner.
The commissioner may take such steps as may be necessary to give notice of and
protect such right, including the copyright or copyrights. However, such steps
shall be cumulative of the ownership and exclusive use and control established
by this subsection as a matter of law, and no person shall reproduce or
otherwise use such design or designs, except as authorized by the
commissioner.
(c)
Beginning on July 1, 2007, any Georgia resident who is the owner of a motor
vehicle, except a vehicle registered under the International Registration Plan,
upon complying with the motor vehicle laws relating to registration and
licensing of motor vehicles and upon the payment of a fee of $25.00 in addition
to the regular motor vehicle registration fee, shall be issued an 'In God We
Trust' license plate. Special license plates issued under this Code section
shall be renewed annually with a revalidation decal as provided in Code Section
40-2-31 upon payment of an additional $25.00 annual registration fee, which fee
shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other
registration fees and remitted to the state as provided in Code Section
40-2-34.
(d)
An applicant may request an 'In God We Trust' license plate any time during the
applicant́s
registration period. If such a license plate is to replace a current valid
license plate, the license plate shall be issued with appropriate decals
attached.
(e)
The manufacturing fee derived from the sale of 'In God We Trust' license plates
shall be apportioned as follows: $2.00 to the department, $13.00 to be
deposited into the general fund, and $10.00 to the Boy Scouts of America for the
development of scouting programs as provided by Article III, Section IX,
Paragraph VI(n) of the Constitution.
(f)
No special license plate authorized pursuant to this Code section shall be
issued except upon the receipt of at least 1,000 applications. The special
license plate shall have an application period of two years after January 1,
2007, for payment of the manufacturing fee. After such time if the minimum
number of applications is not met, the department shall not continue to accept
the manufacturing fee, and all fees shall be refunded to
applicants.
(g)
The department shall not be required to continue to manufacture the special
license plate if the number of active registrations falls below 500
registrations at any time during the five-year period as provided in subsection
(b) of Code Section 40-2-31. A current registrant may continue to renew such
special license plate during his or her annual registration period upon payment
of an additional $25.00 annual special tag fee, which fee shall be collected by
the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and
shall be remitted to the state as provided in Code Section 40-2-34. The
department may continue to issue such special license plates that it has in its
inventory to assist in achieving the minimum number of registrations. If the
special license plate falls below 500 active registrations at any time during
the five-year period as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 40-2-31,
manufacture of the license plates shall not be continued until the commissioner
receives 1,000 applications.
(h)
'In God We Trust' license plates shall be transferred from one vehicle to
another vehicle in accordance with the provisions of Code Section
40-2-42.
(i)
'In God We Trust' license plates shall be issued within 30 days of
application.∀
SECTION
2.
(a)
This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2007, except as otherwise provided
in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) If an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Georgia authorizing the donation of revenue from sales of special license plates to the Boy Scouts of America is not ratified at the general election in 2006, this Act shall be repealed in its entirety on January 1, 2007, and no such motor vehicle license plates shall be issued pursuant to this Act.
(b) If an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Georgia authorizing the donation of revenue from sales of special license plates to the Boy Scouts of America is not ratified at the general election in 2006, this Act shall be repealed in its entirety on January 1, 2007, and no such motor vehicle license plates shall be issued pursuant to this Act.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.