HB1081eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
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1    AN ACT concerning transportation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Purpose. The General Assembly recognizes the
5desire of many commendable civic organizations and causes to be
6acknowledged by a special license plate and further recognizes
7that the issuance of special license plates may raise funds
8that will benefit these organizations and causes. However, the
9General Assembly also recognizes that the proliferation of
10special license plates in Illinois creates a significant
11challenge to law enforcement officials who are required to be
12familiar with, recognize, read, and record information from
13more than 100 types of special license plates now being issued
14in Illinois. To address this situation, the purpose of this
15amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly is to authorize the
16issuance of Universal special license plates.
 
17    Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing
18Section 3-600 and by adding Section 3-699.14 as follows:
 
19    (625 ILCS 5/3-600)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 3-600)
20    Sec. 3-600. Requirements for issuance of special plates.
21    (a) The Secretary of State shall issue only special plates
22that have been authorized by the General Assembly. Except as

 

 

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1provided in subsection (a-5), the The Secretary of State shall
2not issue a series of special plates, or Universal special
3plates associated with an organization authorized to issue
4decals for Universal special plates, unless applications, as
5prescribed by the Secretary, have been received for 2,000
610,000 plates of that series; except that the Secretary of
7State may prescribe some other required number of applications
8if that number is sufficient to pay for the total cost of
9designing, manufacturing and issuing the special license
10plate. Where a special plate is authorized by law to raise
11funds for a specific civic group, charitable entity, or other
12identified organization, or when the civic group, charitable
13entity, or organization is authorized to issue decals for
14Universal special license plates, and where the Secretary of
15State has not received the required number of applications to
16issue that special plate within 2 years of the effective date
17of the Public Act authorizing the special plate or decal, the
18Secretary of State's authority to issue the special plate or a
19Universal special plate associated with that decal is
20nullified. All applications for special plates shall be on a
21form designated by the Secretary and shall be accompanied by
22any civic group's, charitable entity's, or other identified
23fundraising organization's portion of the additional fee
24associated with that plate or decal. All fees collected under
25this Section are non-refundable and shall be deposited in the
26special fund as designated in the enabling legislation,

 

 

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1regardless of whether the plate or decal is produced. Upon the
2adoption of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly,
3no further special license plates shall be authorized by the
4General Assembly unless that special license plate is
5authorized under subsection (a-5) of this Section.
6    (a-5) If the General Assembly authorizes the issuance of a
7special plate that recognizes the applicant's military service
8or receipt of a military medal or award, the Secretary may
9immediately begin issuing that special plate.
10    (b) The Secretary of State, upon issuing a new series of
11special license plates, shall notify all law enforcement
12officials of the design, color and other special features of
13the special license plate series.
14    (c) This Section shall not apply to the Secretary of
15State's discretion as established in Section 3-611.
16    (d) If a law authorizing a special license plate provides
17that the sponsoring organization is to designate a charitable
18entity as the recipient of the funds from the sale of that
19license plate, the designated charitable entity must be in
20compliance with the registration and reporting requirements of
21the Charitable Trust Act and the Solicitation for Charity Act.
22In addition, the charitable entity must annually provide the
23Secretary of State's office a letter of compliance issued by
24the Illinois Attorney General's office verifying the entity is
25in compliance with the Acts.
26    In the case of a law in effect before the effective date of

 

 

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1this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the name of
2the charitable entity which is to receive the funds shall be
3provided to the Secretary of State within one year after the
4effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
5Assembly. In the case of a law that takes effect on or after
6the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
7Assembly, the name of the charitable entity which is to receive
8the funds shall be provided to the Secretary of State within
9one year after the law takes effect. If the organization fails
10to designate an appropriate charitable entity within the
11one-year period, or if the designated charitable entity fails
12to annually provide the Secretary of State a letter of
13compliance issued by the Illinois Attorney General's office,
14any funds collected from the sale of plates authorized for that
15organization and not previously disbursed shall be transferred
16to the General Revenue Fund, and the special plates shall be
17discontinued.
18    (e) If fewer than 1,000 sets of any special license plate
19authorized by law and issued by the Secretary of State are
20actively registered for 2 consecutive calendar years, the
21Secretary of State may discontinue the issuance of that special
22license plate or require that special license plate to be
23exchanged for Universal special plates with appropriate
24decals.
25    (f) Where special license plates have been discontinued
26pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this Section, or when the

 

 

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1special license plates are required to be exchanged for
2Universal special plates under subsection (e) of this Section,
3all previously issued plates of that type shall be recalled.
4Owners of vehicles which were registered with recalled plates
5shall not be charged a reclassification or registration sticker
6replacement plate fee upon the issuance of new plates for those
7vehicles.
8    (g) Any special plate that is authorized to be issued for
9motorcycles may also be issued for autocycles.
10(Source: P.A. 97-409, eff. 1-1-12; 98-777, eff. 1-1-15.)
 
11    (625 ILCS 5/3-699.14 new)
12    Sec. 3-699.14. Universal special license plates.
13    (a) In addition to any other special license plate, the
14Secretary, upon receipt of all applicable fees and applications
15made in the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue
16Universal special license plates to residents of Illinois on
17behalf of organizations that have been authorized by the
18General Assembly to issue decals for Universal special license
19plates. Appropriate documentation, as determined by the
20Secretary, shall accompany each application. Authorized
21organizations shall be designated by amendment to this Section.
22When applying for a Universal special license plate the
23applicant shall inform the Secretary of the name of the
24authorized organization from which the applicant will obtain a
25decal to place on the plate. The Secretary shall make a record

 

 

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1of that organization and that organization shall remain
2affiliated with that plate until the plate is surrendered,
3revoked, or otherwise cancelled. The authorized organization
4may charge a fee to offset the cost of producing and
5distributing the decal, but that fee shall be retained by the
6authorized organization and shall be separate and distinct from
7any registration fees charged by the Secretary. No decal,
8sticker, or other material may be affixed to a Universal
9special license plate other than a decal authorized by the
10General Assembly in this Section or a registration renewal
11sticker. The special plates issued under this Section shall be
12affixed only to passenger vehicles of the first division,
13including motorcycles and autocycles, or motor vehicles of the
14second division weighing not more than 8,000 pounds. Plates
15issued under this Section shall expire according to the
16multi-year procedure under Section 3-414.1 of this Code.
17    (b) The design, color, and format of the Universal special
18license plate shall be wholly within the discretion of the
19Secretary. Universal special license plates are not required to
20designate "Land of Lincoln", as prescribed in subsection (b) of
21Section 3-412 of this Code. The design shall allow for the
22application of a decal to the plate. Organizations authorized
23by the General Assembly to issue decals for Universal special
24license plates shall comply with rules adopted by the Secretary
25governing the requirements for and approval of Universal
26special license plate decals. The Secretary may, in his or her

 

 

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1discretion, allow Universal special license plates to be issued
2as vanity or personalized plates in accordance with Section
33-405.1 of this Code. The Secretary of State must make a
4version of the special registration plates authorized under
5this Section in a form appropriate for motorcycles and
6autocycles.
7    (c) When authorizing a Universal special license plate, the
8General Assembly shall set forth whether an additional fee is
9to be charged for the plate and, if a fee is to be charged, the
10amount of the fee and how the fee is to be distributed. When
11necessary, the authorizing language shall create a special fund
12in the State treasury into which fees may be deposited for an
13authorized Universal special license plate. Additional fees
14may only be charged if the fee is to be paid over to a State
15agency or to a charitable entity that is in compliance with the
16registration and reporting requirements of the Charitable
17Trust Act and the Solicitation for Charity Act. Any charitable
18entity receiving fees for the sale of Universal special license
19plates shall annually provide the Secretary of State a letter
20of compliance issued by the Attorney General verifying that the
21entity is in compliance with the Charitable Trust Act and the
22Solicitation for Charity Act.
23    (d) Upon original issuance and for each registration
24renewal period, in addition to the appropriate registration
25fee, if applicable, the Secretary shall collect any additional
26fees, if required, for issuance of Universal special license

 

 

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1plates. The fees shall be collected on behalf of the
2organization designated by the applicant when applying for the
3plate. All fees collected shall be transferred to the State
4agency on whose behalf the fees were collected, or paid into
5the special fund designated in the law authorizing the
6organization to issue decals for Universal special license
7plates. All money in the designated fund shall be distributed
8by the Secretary subject to appropriation by the General
9Assembly.
 
10    (625 ILCS 5/3-633 rep.)
11    Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
12repealing Section 3-633.
 
13    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
142016.