HB0155

HOUSE BILL 155

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Miguel P. Garcia

ENDORSED BY THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE CODE TO PROVIDE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE AND REPLACEMENT FEES FOR PLACARDS FOR PERSONS WITH SIGNIFICANT MOBILITY LIMITATIONS AND TO PROVIDE FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE DISABILITY FUND OF A PORTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND REPLACEMENT FEES FOR PLACARDS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1. Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 36, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-3-16. DISTINCTIVE REGISTRATION PLATES--PERSONS WITH SIGNIFICANT MOBILITY LIMITATION--PARKING PLACARD.--

A. The division shall issue distinctive registration plates for use on motor vehicles and motorcycles owned by a person with a significant mobility limitation who requests a distinctive registration plate and who proves satisfactorily to the division that the person meets the standard provided in Subsection [J] K of this section. No fee in addition to the regular registration fee, if any, applicable to the motor vehicle or motorcycle shall be collected for issuance of distinctive registration plates pursuant to this section.

B. No person shall falsely claim to have a significant mobility limitation so as to be eligible to be issued a distinctive registration plate or a parking placard pursuant to this section when the person does not in fact have a significant mobility limitation. Upon notice and opportunity to be heard, the division may revoke and demand return of any placard when:

(1) it was issued in error or with false information;

(2) the person receiving the placard is no longer eligible; or

(3) the placard is being used by ineligible persons.

C. Upon written application to the division accompanied by a medical statement by a licensed physician attesting to the permanent significant mobility limitation, a resident of the state who has a significant mobility limitation, as provided in this section, may apply for and be issued no more than two parking placards for display upon a motor vehicle registered to the person or motor vehicle owned by another person who is transporting the person with a significant mobility limitation. The physician shall provide the division all information and records necessary to issue a permanent parking placard. Once approved for use of a permanent parking placard, a person with a significant mobility limitation shall not be required to furnish further medical information.

D. A parking placard issued pursuant to this section shall expire four years from the date it was issued.

E. The division shall issue two-sided hanger-style parking placards with the following characteristics:

(1) a picture of the international symbol of access;

(2) a hologram to make duplication difficult;

(3) an imprinted expiration date; and

(4) a full-face photograph of the holder on the inside of the placard covered by a flap.

F. The division shall consult with the governor's commission on disability for continued issuance and format of the placard.

G. The division may issue an identification card containing a full-face photograph of the holder of the registration plate or parking placard and the number of the registration plate or parking placard issued to that person.

H. Upon written application to the division accompanied by a medical statement from a licensed physician attesting to a temporary significant mobility limitation, a person may be issued a temporary placard for no more than one year. The physician shall provide the division all information and records necessary to issue a temporary placard.

I. Registration plates or parking placards issued to a person with a significant mobility limitation by another state or foreign jurisdiction shall be honored until the motor vehicle or motorcycle is registered or the parking placard holder establishes residency in this state.

J. The division shall charge a five-dollar ($5.00) fee to a person applying for a new placard, to renew a placard or to replace a placard that has been lost or stolen or seized pursuant to Subsection C of Section 66-3-16.1 NMSA 1978. The division shall deposit the fees that it collects pursuant to this subsection to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fees to the motor vehicle suspense fund.

[J.] K. A person with a significant mobility limitation means a person who:

(1) cannot walk one hundred feet without stopping to rest;

(2) cannot walk without the use of a brace, cane or crutch or without assistance from another person, a prosthetic device, a wheelchair or other assistive device;

(3) is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced respiratory volume, when exhaling for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty millimeters on room air at rest;

(4) uses portable oxygen;

(5) has a severe cardiac condition; or

(6) is so severely limited in the ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurologic or orthopedic condition that the person cannot ascend or descend more than ten stair steps."

SECTION 2. Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 358, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-6-23. DISPOSITION OF FEES.--

A. After the necessary disbursements for refunds and other purposes have been made, the money remaining in the motor vehicle suspense fund, except for remittances received within the previous two months that are unidentified as to source or disposition, shall be distributed as follows:

(1) to each municipality, county or fee agent operating a motor vehicle field office:

(a) an amount equal to six dollars ($6.00) per driver's license and five dollars ($5.00) per identification card or motor vehicle or motorboat registration or title transaction performed;

(b) for each such agent determined by the secretary pursuant to Section 66-2-16 NMSA 1978 to have performed ten thousand or more transactions in the preceding fiscal year, other than a class A county with a population exceeding three hundred thousand or a municipality with a population exceeding three hundred thousand that has been designated as an agent pursuant to Section 66-2-14.1 NMSA 1978, an amount equal to one dollar ($1.00) in addition to the amount distributed pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph for each driver's license, identification card, motor vehicle registration, motorboat registration or title transaction performed; and

(c) to each military installation designated as a fee agent pursuant to Section 66-2-14.1 NMSA 1978, an amount equal to one dollar fifty cents ($1.50) in addition to the amount distributed pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph for each administrative service fee remitted by the military installation to the department pursuant to Subsection A of Section 66-2-16 NMSA 1978;

(2) to each municipality or county, other than a class A county with a population exceeding three hundred thousand or a municipality with a population exceeding three hundred thousand that has been designated as an agent pursuant to Section 66-2-14.1 NMSA 1978, operating a motor vehicle field office, an amount equal to one dollar fifty cents ($1.50) for each administrative service fee remitted by that county or municipality to the department pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of Section 66-2-16 NMSA 1978;

(3) to the state road fund:

(a) an amount equal to the fees collected pursuant to Sections 66-7-413 and 66-7-413.4 NMSA 1978;

(b) an amount equal to the fee collected pursuant to Section 66-3-417 NMSA 1978;

(c) the remainder of each driver's license fee collected by the department employees from an applicant to whom a license is granted after deducting from the driver's license fee the amount of the distribution authorized in Paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to that collected driver's license fee; and

(d) an amount equal to fifty percent of the fees collected pursuant to Section 66-6-19 NMSA 1978;

(4) to the local governments road fund, the amount of the fees collected pursuant to Subsection B of Section 66-5-33.1 NMSA 1978 and the remainder of the fees collected pursuant to Subsection A of Section 66-5-408 NMSA 1978;

(5) to the department:

(a) any amounts reimbursed to the department pursuant to Subsection D of Section 66-2-14.1 NMSA 1978;

(b) an amount equal to two dollars ($2.00) of each motorcycle registration fee collected pursuant to Section 66-6-1 NMSA 1978;

(c) an amount equal to the fees provided for in Subsection D of Section 66-2-7 NMSA 1978, Subsection E of Section 66-2-16 NMSA 1978, Subsections K and L of Section 66-3-6 NMSA 1978 other than the administrative fee, Subsection C of Section 66-5-44 NMSA 1978 and Subsection B of Section 66-5-408 NMSA 1978;

(d) the amounts due to the department for the manufacture and issuance of a special registration plate collected pursuant to the section of law authorizing the issuance of the specialty plate;

(e) an amount equal to the registration fees collected pursuant to Section 66-6-6.1 NMSA 1978 for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act and for creating and maintaining a multilanguage noncommercial driver's license testing program; and after those purposes are met, the balance of the registration fees shall be distributed to the department to defray the costs of operating the motor vehicle division;

(f) an amount equal to fifty cents ($.50) for each administrative fee remitted to the department by a county or municipality operating a motor vehicle field office pursuant to Subsection A of Section 66-2-16 NMSA 1978;

(g) an amount equal to one dollar twenty-five cents ($1.25) for each administrative fee collected by the department or any of its agents other than a county or municipality operating a motor vehicle field office pursuant to Subsection A of Section 66-2-16 NMSA 1978; and

(h) an amount equal to the royalties or other consideration paid by commercial users of databases of motor vehicle-related records of the department pursuant to Subsection C of Section 14-3-15.1 NMSA 1978 for the purpose of defraying the costs of maintaining databases of motor vehicle-related records of the department; and after that purpose is met, the balance of the royalties and other consideration shall be distributed to the department to defray the costs of operating the motor vehicle division or for use pursuant to Subsection F of Section 66-6-13 NMSA 1978;

(6) to each New Mexico institution of higher education, an amount equal to that part of the fees distributed pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection D of Section 66-3-416 NMSA 1978 proportionate to the number of special registration plates issued in the name of the institution to all such special registration plates issued in the name of all institutions;

(7) to the armed forces veterans license fund, the amount to be distributed pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection E of Section 66-3-419 NMSA 1978;

(8) to the children's trust fund, the amount to be distributed pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection D of Section 66-3-420 NMSA 1978;

(9) to the department of transportation, an amount equal to the fees collected pursuant to Section 66-5-35 NMSA 1978;

(10) to the state equalization guarantee distribution made annually pursuant to the general appropriation act, an amount equal to one hundred percent of the driver safety fee collected pursuant to Subsection D of Section 66-5-44 NMSA 1978;

(11) to the motorcycle training fund, two dollars ($2.00) of each motorcycle registration fee collected pursuant to Section 66-6-1 NMSA 1978;

(12) to the recycling and illegal dumping fund:

(a) fifty cents ($.50) of the tire recycling fee collected pursuant to the provisions of Section 66-6-1 NMSA 1978;

(b) fifty cents ($.50) of each of the tire recycling fees collected pursuant to the provisions of Sections 66-6-2 and 66-6-4 NMSA 1978; and

(c) twenty-five cents ($.25) of each of the tire recycling fees collected pursuant to Sections 66-6-5 and 66-6-8 NMSA 1978;

(13) to the highway infrastructure fund:

(a) fifty cents ($.50) of the tire recycling fee collected pursuant to the provisions of Section 66-6-1 NMSA 1978;

(b) one dollar ($1.00) of each of the tire recycling fees collected pursuant to the provisions of Sections 66-6-2 and 66-6-4 NMSA 1978; and

(c) twenty-five cents ($.25) of each of the tire recycling fees collected pursuant to Sections 66-6-5 and 66-6-8 NMSA 1978;

(14) to each county, an amount equal to fifty percent of the fees collected pursuant to Section 66-6-19 NMSA 1978 multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the total mileage of public roads maintained by the county and the denominator of which is the total mileage of public roads maintained by all counties in the state;

(15) to the litter control and beautification fund, an amount equal to the fees collected pursuant to Section 66-6-6.2 NMSA 1978;

(16) to the local government division of the department of finance and administration, an amount equal to the fees collected pursuant to Section 66-3-424.3 NMSA 1978 for distribution to each county to support animal control spaying and neutering programs in an amount proportionate to the number of residents of that county who have purchased pet care special registration plates pursuant to Section 66-3-424.3 NMSA 1978; [and]

(17) to the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad commission, twenty-five dollars ($25.00) collected pursuant to the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad special registration plate; and

(18) to the disability fund, an amount equal to three dollars ($3.00) of each fee collected pursuant to Subsection J of Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978.

B. The balance, exclusive of unidentified remittances, shall be distributed in accordance with Section 66-6-23.1 NMSA 1978.

C. If any of the paragraphs, subsections or sections referred to in Subsection A of this section are recompiled or otherwise redesignated without a corresponding change to Subsection A of this section, the reference in Subsection A of this section shall be construed to be the recompiled or redesignated paragraph, subsection or section."

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