Committee holds BMV agency bill after wide-ranging debate over stickerless registration, real-time insurance and medical-reporting changes

Representative Pressell opened the committeediscussion of House Bill 1390 as an omnibus Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) bill covering multiple agency priorities. "House Bill 1390 is a BMV agency bill, BMV matters bill. Lots of things in this bill," Representative Pressell told the committee and said BMV staff were present to take detailed questions.

Representative Pressell described a number of provisions: enabling stickerless registrations and electronic registration after 2028; permitting an alternate "blackout" license plate color scheme (black background with white letters) that proponents say can generate significant revenue; raising the signature threshold for qualifying specialty plates from 500 to 1,000 prospective buyers (prospective, not retroactive for existing plates); and raising length limits for certain vehicle combinations from 60 feet to 70 feet to accommodate modern construction haulers. He also outlined changes allowing electronic signatures for salvage title transactions, clarifying out-of-state commercial driver's license transfers, reducing certain motorcycle learner-permit renewals, and removing a population limit for interlocal public transportation agreements.

Cody Eckert, legislative director for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, summarized two of the bill's headline proposals: permitting a blackout personalized plate color scheme and implementing real-time insurance verification. "House Bill 1390 permits the BMV to offer that blackout color scheme so a customer choosing a personalized plate may request a personalized message and may request a blackout plate," Eckert said. On insurance verification, Eckert told the committee the bill would allow an instantaneous method of verifying evidence of insurance directly with the insurance company and that the current process leads to inadvertent suspensions when the BMV does not receive a certificate of compliance.

The committee spent notable time on the proposal to eliminate the registration sticker. Representative Pressell said he was working with the chair and others on an amendment and that he expected the sticker removal language to be taken out of the bill after law-enforcement concerns. "One of the things I ... have already discussed with chairman Pressell that I'm concerned about is eliminating the sticker on the license plate. It's an important tool for law enforcement," the chair said.

The bill also would add a checkbox for law enforcement on accident reports allowing officers to indicate that a driver's medical impairment "may have contributed" to the crash and would create a process for BMV review by the medical review board. Several members of the public supported that change during testimony. Erin Hedges, a Marion County resident who described two fatal crashes involving a single driver, urged the committee to make reporting easier for physicians and officers. "The proposed language in this bill provides a common sense solution that makes it easier for physicians and law enforcement officers to report drivers to the BMV who pose a risk to the public," Hedges said, recounting fatal crashes and describing frustration that earlier incidents were not reported to BMV medical review authorities.

Committee members probed implementation details, including how real-time verification would handle short-term policies or lapses and whether the officer checkbox risked putting lay officers in the position of making medical determinations. BMV staff said the checkbox would prompt a review by the medical review board and that the department had worked with insurers to design the insurance verification approach. "This is something that's been in the background for the last couple of years to try and figure out how do we streamline this so that you don't have to have that card there," Representative Pressell said.

After discussion and requests for amendments, the committee took no final vote on House Bill 1390 and the chair said the bill would be held and amendments released ahead of next week's hearing so interested parties can review the proposed changes.

Provisions summarized in testimony (not exhaustive): blackout personalized plates; stickerless registration and electronic registration; increased signature threshold for specialty plates from 500 to 1,000; expanded combination-vehicle length from 60 to 70 feet; real-time insurance verification with a temporary advisory board; an option for officers to flag possible medical impairment on accident reports leading to medical review; and other BMV operational clarifications for CDLs, motorcycle learner permits and salvage title processing.

No committee vote was taken on House Bill 1390; the chair and sponsor indicated they will circulate proposed amendments to interested parties before reconvening.