Senate Bill No. 71

(By Senators Bailey and Caldwell)

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[Introduced January 8, 2003; referred to the Committee on Transportation and then to the committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article ten, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to vehicles exempt from payment of registration fees; and extending the exemption to apply to certain other vehicles owned or operated by senior centers, councils on aging, sheltered workshops, community action groups and head start programs.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article ten, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. FEES FOR REGISTRATION, LICENSING, ETC.

§17A-10-8. Vehicles exempt from payment of registration fees.

The following specified vehicles shall be are exempt from the payment of any registration fees:
(1) Any vehicle owned or operated by the United States government, the state of West Virginia or any of their political subdivisions. The proper representative of the United States government, the state of West Virginia, or any of their political subdivisions shall make an application for registration for the vehicle and the registration plate or plates issued for the vehicle shall be displayed as provided in this chapter;
(2) Any fire vehicle owned or operated by a volunteer fire department organized for the protection of community property;
(3) Any ambulance or any other emergency rescue vehicle owned or operated by a nonprofit, charitable organization, and used exclusively for charitable purposes;
(4) Any vehicle owned by a disabled veteran as defined by the provisions of Public Law 663 of the 79th Congress of the United States, or Public Law 187 of the 82nd Congress of the United States, or Public Law 77 of the 90th Congress of the United States; except for vehicles used for hire which are owned by disabled veterans;
(5) Not more than one vehicle owned by a veteran with a hundred percent total and permanent service-connected disability as certified by the director of the Department of Veterans' Affairs of West Virginia and not used for commercial purposes;
(6) Not more than one Class A or Class G vehicle, as defined in section one of this article, owned by a former prisoner of war and not used for commercial purposes. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "prisoner of war" means any member of the armed forces of the United States, including the United States coast guard and national guard, who was held by any hostile force with which the United States was actually engaged in armed conflict during any period of the incarceration; or any person, military or civilian, assigned to duty on the U.S.S. Pueblo who was captured by the military forces of North Korea on the twenty-third of January, one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight, and thereafter held prisoner; except any person who, at any time, voluntarily, knowingly and without duress, gave aid to or collaborated with or in any manner served any such hostile force; and
(7) Not more than one Class A or Class G vehicle, as defined in section one of this article, owned by a recipient of the congressional medal of honor and not used for commercial purposes; and
(8) Any vehicle owned by senior centers, councils on aging, sheltered workshops, community action groups and head start programs: Provided, That these groups or organizations must maintain adequate liability insurance on all vehicles exempted from the payment of the registration fee.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend the exemption from payment of registration fees for certain vehicles owned or operated by senior centers, councils on aging, sheltered workshops, community action groups and head start programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.