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Committee approves bill allowing special rental‑car license plates to reduce tab logistics for fleets
Summary
House File 2107, which would create a special rental‑motor‑vehicle license plate option (reducing the need to attach physical tabs to individual vehicles), was recommended to pass and referred to Ways and Means after testimony from Enterprise representatives and a technical amendment was adopted.
The Transportation Finance and Policy Committee on March 17 recommended House File 2107 to pass and be referred to the Ways and Means Committee. The bill would allow the Department of Public Safety to create a rental‑car license plate for use by rental companies so tabs would not need to be physically affixed to each vehicle.
Representative Olson presented the bill and Enterprise Rent‑A‑Car representatives explained how vehicles move across branches and how mailing tabs to the branch where a car is physically located can create customer service problems when vehicles relocate. Steve Hari, controller for Enterprise Rent‑A‑Car in Minnesota, said the company has more than 50 rental locations in the state and ‘‘several thousand cars’’ that frequently move among branches. He said the proposed plate would not change registration fees; it would allow companies to retain a plate and transfer it among vehicles for a defined period (the bill contemplates a multi‑year validation option).
The committee adopted a technical A1 amendment to clarify statutory cross‑references and to ensure validation‑sticker requirements would not apply to the new plate. Representative Lisonbee moved the technical amendment; the committee approved it unanimously. After discussion the committee voted to recommend HF 2107 as amended and sent the bill to Ways and Means.
Sponsor and members framed the change as a modest business‑operations improvement intended to reduce administrative inefficiencies for large fleet operators while preserving customary registration fees.
