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Panel debates DMV installment payments, digital license plates and extension of mileage pilot
Summary
Assemblyman Howard Watts told the Senate Finance Committee that Assembly Bill 296 would let the DMV authorize optional installment payments for vehicle registrations, create a framework for optional digital license plates, and extend a mileage-data pilot through 2030.
Assemblyman Howard Watts (Assembly District 15) presented Assembly Bill 296, a three-part measure that would (1) authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to use third-party vendors to offer optional installment payment plans for vehicle registration fees of $250 or more (limit 12 months; total vendor fees capped at 15% of financed amount and APR effectively capped by statute language), (2) create a framework authorizing the DMV to permit optional digital license plates, and (3) extend a mileage-data pilot program through 2030 to continue collecting odometer readings and inform future transportation funding.
Watts said vendors would remit full registration amounts to the state up front and then collect installments from customers under terms disclosed to consumers. He said the bill includes consumer protections: vendor charges could not exceed 15% of financed amount, contracts could not allow rollovers into other products, and vendors would be licensed and regulated by the Financial Institutions Division (FID) under Chapter 675. He described the installment option as intended to be a lower-cost alternative to payday loans or high-interest credit.
Jimmy Lau of Reviver, a digital license-plate company, explained the plates use e-ink technology and retain their displayed image if battery power is lost. Supporters included the Associated General Contractors, New Day Nevada, the Nevada Contractors Association and Nevada franchise auto dealers. Opposition testimony from Jonathan Norman of the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers urged rejection of the lending portion, arguing consumers could be rolled into higher-interest products and that collections could magnify small debts; he suggested alternatives such as shorter sticker periods with incremental payments. Committee members pressed the sponsor on DMV capacity and consumer protections; sponsor said the bill was developed with DMV consultation and that RFP terms and regulatory licensing would limit predatory outcomes. No recorded committee vote appears in the transcript.
