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Committee amends vehicle registration bill to expand temporary-permit display options and extend kiosk permits; downgrades forgery penalty
Summary
The House Transportation Committee adopted amendments to House Bill 1118 to allow temporary registration permits to be displayed in the rear license-plate area as well as windows, extend certain temporary permits to 75 days, and replace a Class C felony penalty for forging registration documents with a Class A misdemeanor.
The House Transportation Committee voted to recommend House Bill 1118 do pass as amended after debate and multiple amendments clarifying how temporary registration permits may be displayed and how they will be printed.
Representative Koppelman, who presented the amendments, told the committee the language would allow a temporary registration permit to be displayed in one of three locations: the rear-most driver-side window, the rear window, or affixed in the rear license-plate area so the permit is “free of obstructions and clearly visible.” Koppelman said Department of Transportation kiosks and dealer-printed permits could be formatted to fit a license-plate holder. “If you print out a PDF, there would be nothing to stop you from printing out 3 copies of the same because it’s assigned to the same vehicle,” Koppelman said.
The committee also adopted language extending the duration of one class of temporary permits from 30 days to 75 days where the permit is issued by a dealer, kiosk or printable PDF that the DOT can format for plate holders.
Separately, committee members raised concerns about criminal penalties tied to forged temporary permits. The committee discussed replacing a longstanding Class C felony for altering or forging registration cards with a lesser penalty. A motion to change the penalty from a Class C felony to a Class A misdemeanor was offered and adopted after members said a felony conviction carries consequences beyond the offense that may be disproportionate for paperwork fraud. The amendment retained the prohibition on forging or counterfeiting documents while reducing the statutory penalty.
After taking several amendments that clarified display options, wording to replace “car dealership” with “licensed motor dealer,” and the penalty change, the committee voted to recommend the bill pass as amended and to carry it to the floor.
Ending: With the amendments adopted, the committee recommended do pass as amended; the sponsor and DOT staff will finalize technical language for printing and placement and the bill proceeds to the floor with the amended penalties and permit duration.
