SF 55 (LSB 1782XS (3) 91)

SENATE FILE 55

BY  EVANS

A BILL FOR

An Act authorizing the issuance of fire fighter special registration plates for vehicles owned by certain revocable trusts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.34, subsection 10, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  Upon application and payment of the proper fees, the director may issue fire fighter plates to the owner of a motor vehicle subject to registration under section 321.109, subsection 1, autocycle, motor truck, motor home, multipurpose vehicle, motorcycle, trailer, or travel trailer if the owner is a current or retired member of a paid or volunteer fire department, or if the owner is a revocable trust, as defined in section 9H.1, and the grantor, as defined in section 9H.1, is a current or retired member of a paid or volunteer fire department. The special registration plates, designed by the department in cooperation with representatives designated by the Iowa fire fighters’ associations, signify that the applicant is a current or retired member of a paid or volunteer fire department.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, the department of transportation (DOT) is authorized to issue fire fighter special registration plates to an owner who is a current or retired member of a fire department (fire fighter plates). An application for fire fighter plates must be approved by the DOT in consultation with representatives designated by the Iowa fire fighters’ associations. For purposes of Code chapter 321 (motor vehicles and law of the road), “owner” means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of a security agreement with an immediate right of possession vested in the debtor, then such debtor is deemed the owner. A person is considered to be retired from a fire department if the person is recognized on record, by the chief of the fire department where the individual served, as officially retired from the fire department. 
   This bill authorizes the DOT to issue fire fighter plates to a vehicle owner that is a revocable trust if the grantor is a current or retired member of a fire department. The special fee for fire fighter plates is $25 (plus $5 for personalized plates), in addition to the regular registration fee. The treasurer of state is required to transfer moneys, equal to the amount the road use tax fund receives from special fees for fire fighter plates, each month from the statutory allocations fund to the Paul Ryan memorial fire fighter safety training fund.
   When used in the bill, “revocable trust” means a trust which provides that the grantor retains the power to amend, modify, or revoke the trust at any time prior to the death of the grantor, regardless of whether, subsequent to the execution of the revocable trust and at any time prior to death, the grantor is legally competent to exercise the power to amend, modify, or revoke the trust and regardless of when the trust is created; and “grantor” means a natural person, other than a nonresident alien as defined under Code section 9H.1, who is the creator of a revocable trust or a trust.