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

SPONSOR:	Ponce		DATE TYPED:	3/15/03		HB	378/aHTC/aHAFC
SHORT TITLE:		Special Plates for Retired NM Mail Carriers				SB
					ANALYST:		Wilson

REVENUE

Estimated Revenue		Subsequent Years Impact	Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04
	$0.1		Recurring	OSF
	$0.1		Recurring	County
	$0.1		Recurring	Municipal

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

Relates to various specialty license plates proposed by the House and Senate.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Responses Received From

State Highway and Transportation Department (SHTD)

No Response

Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

The House Appropriations and Finance Committee amendment makes a technical revision. There are no substantive changes.

Synopsis of HTC Amendment

The House Transportation Committee amendment creates standardized special registration plates with logos to show state support for worthy public purposes. The amendment states the authorizing statute shall provide for collection of fees that, at a minimum, will cover the costs to the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) of development, manufacture and issuance of the special registration plates and logos.

Standardized special registration plates, on the standardized areas, shall:

• Display the colors of the state flag, red lettering on a yellow background and the phrases "New Mexico USA" and "Land of Enchantment";

• Provide a space for applying the special registration logo, centered at the left edge of the plate, between the attachment holes, beginning one-fourth inch in from the edge of the plate and having the following dimensions: four and one-eighth inches in height and three and one-eighth inches in width;

• Provide a vehicle registration number, to be assigned by the MVD consisting of five alphanumeric characters displayed to the right of the special logo area.

The HTC amendment states MVD will design the balance of the plate in consultation with the public purpose interest group requesting the special registration plate. This group shall provide evidence acceptable to MVD that it will generate a minimum number of prepaid applications as determined by the MVD for the special registration plate with logo and give a prepayment to the MVD in an amount sufficient to cover the plate and logo cost of the initial order. Furthermore,

the interest group shall provide a sample of the requested artwork design in a format specified by the plate manufacturer for the specialized logo.

The standardized provisions of the amendment are effective July 1, 2003. The balance of the bill is effective on January 1, 2004.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 378 requires the Taxation and Revenue Department to issue special registration license plates to any person who is a retired mail carrier with the United States postal service upon the submission of proof that the individual requesting the plate is a retired mail carrier.

The TRD Secretary shall determine what constitutes satisfactory proof. In addition, the TRD Secretary shall approve the final plate design for the special registration plates that must be clearly marked as “mail carrier.”

Significant Issues

The Legislature may wish to grant retired postal workers the privilege of having a special license plate.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

TRD is authorized to charge a fee of $25.00 in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee for the special registration plate for retired postal workers. The fees shall be retained by TRD and is appropriated to TRD to defray the cost of making and issuing special registration plates.

The Motor Vehicle Division is appropriated $10.00 of the fee collected to defray the cost of making and issuing special registration plates for retired letter carriers. The remaining $15.00 shall be deposited in the motor vehicle suspense fund for distribution to the state road fund, the county general funds, the county road funds, the municipal road uses and municipal general funds in accordance with current distribution laws.

The Albuquerque Postmaster’s office says the number of retired mail carriers is privileged information and cannot be divulged so it is not possible to estimate demand.

It is unclear whether demand would outweigh the costs of manufacturing the retired mail carrier license plates.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

TRD will require some staff resources to design and issue the license plates.

CONFLICT/ COMPANIONSHIP/ RELATIONSHIP

HB 378 conflicts with SB 211 that also proposes mail carrier plates, but with different fees for issuance.

HB 378 is a companion bill to HB 379 that proposes mail carrier plates to active postal workers.

HB 378 relates to :

HB 75, Armed Forces Retirees Special License

HB 201, Special Plates for Retired Firefighters (duplicate of SB 496)

HB 520, Special Plates for National Guard Members

HB 566, Special Plates for Supporting Spayed Pets

HB 602, Special Plates for Retired NM National Guard (duplicate of SB 622)

HB 635, Special Plates for NM Fraternal Order of Police

HB 656, Special Plates for Wildlife Artwork

HB 704, License Plates for Civil Air Patrol, New Mexico Wing

HB 760, Special Commemorative Route 66 License Plate (duplicate of SB 770)

SB 197, License Plate for Active Duty Servicemen

SB 210, License Plates for Retired State Police

DW/yr/njw :yr