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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Sanchez, M.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/2/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Distinctiveness of Purple Heart Registration Plate

SB 492

ANALYST Earnest

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring or

Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$5.5

$5.5 Non-Recurring

MVD

operating

fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)

Veterans’ Services Department (VSD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 492 would require that the special registration plates for purple heart recipients have

a distinctive design, different from other special plates issued to armed forces veterans pursuant

to Section 66-3-419 NMSA 1978 that emphasizes the veteran is a purple heart recipient.

Senate Bill 492 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

No significant fiscal impacts have been identified. TRD notes a small administrative impact for

design of a new plate.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

TRD reports that Section 66-3-414 (amended by this bill) now provides for a distinctive Purple

Heart plate for which all fees including registration fees are waived. MVD administers the cur-

rent Purple Heart plate under this section, and the plate is distinct and does not use a decal. This

bill makes reference to the Armed Forces Veteran plates under Section 66-3-419 which are

available for a charge of $15 plus registration fees for the plate. Section 66-3-419 includes a

provision for a Purple Heart version of the Armed Forces Veteran plate, however, the Motor Ve-

hicle Division has not issued Purple Heart versions of the Armed Forces Veteran plates since re-

cipients prefer the distinctive Purple Heart plate issued pursuant to Section 66-3-419 for which

no fees are charged.

VSD notes that current veterans’ plates now follow the same basic design with a blue back-

ground and gold numbers and letters with a different decal signifying the different plates on the

left hand side of the plate.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Assuming the existing purple heart registration plates needs to be redesigned, MVD would have

to create and produce an initial inventory of the new plate. The budget impact assumes $500 for

design and $5,000 for initial production of 1,000 plates (replacement of current Purple Heart

plate inventory). Impact is non-recurring as MVD would simply be replacing one plate design

with another.

BE/nt