Committee previews changes to dealer-tag bill, members urge clearer enforcement and possible move of licensing to revenue agency

The committee opened discussion of House Bill 111267, with the chair saying final text was not available because legislative counsel was absent and previewing several planned edits to the bill.

The chair said sections 1–5 — which set penalties — would remain intact, while some conduct in section 6 would be elevated to a felony (including willful odometer tampering and certain title falsifications). The chair said other title-related conduct would return to misdemeanor status but would have fines aligned with the penalties in the bill’s earlier sections. The chair also said an insurance-notification requirement would remain, with wording changed from 'terminate' to 'cancel' or 'expire.'

A committee member urged a broader fix to how the state handles dealer licensing and enforcement. That member said the problem spans two agencies — the Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue — and suggested the committee consider moving dealer licensing and enforcement to the Department of Revenue so one agency could set standards and enforce them uniformly. He characterized some counterfeit-dealer and title-fraud activity as both a public-safety and consumer-protection problem and said past committee work showed many licensed 'dealers' do not sell vehicles in any given year.

Liz Houseman, chief of staff for the Secretary of State’s office, told the committee the office supports the goal of housing the functions in one agency but is short-staffed and spread thin. “There’s no way for us to undo the enforcement piece on the front end that y’all are looking for with your changes and do it adequately and do it right,” Houseman said, adding the office is willing to work with the committee but that resources must follow any transferred responsibilities.

Several committee members asked the sponsor to refine the language and signposting for small-business impacts, noting family-owned dealers could be affected by unintended consequences and asking the sponsor to return with specific, implementable text. No formal vote on House Bill 111267 occurred in this session; the sponsor said final legislative counsel changes and formal drafting will be available at a later date.

Next steps: the sponsor said legislative counsel would prepare the updated language and the committee would reconvene on the bill when the revised text is available.