Senate File 88 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to motor vehicles, including special
2registration plates and the minimum standard of transparency
3for window tint, providing fees, providing penalties, and
4making penalties applicable.
5BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  Section 321.34, Code 2019, is amended by adding
2the following new subsection:
3   NEW SUBSECTION.  11C.  Blackout plates.
   4a.  Upon application and payment of the proper fees,
5the director may issue blackout plates to the owner of a
6motor vehicle subject to registration under section 321.109,
7subsection 1, autocycle, motor truck, motor home, multipurpose
8vehicle, motorcycle, trailer, or travel trailer.
   9b.  Blackout plates shall be designed by the department. A
10blackout plate’s background shall be black, and the plate’s
11letters and numbers shall be white. The plate shall include
12on the plate the name of the county where the vehicle is
13registered.
   14c.  The special blackout fee for letter-number designated
15blackout plates is thirty-five dollars. An applicant may
16obtain personalized blackout plates upon payment of the fee for
17personalized plates as provided in subsection 5, which is in
18addition to the special blackout fee. The fees collected by
19the director under this subsection shall be paid monthly to
20the treasurer of state and deposited in the road use tax fund.
21The treasurer of state shall credit monthly from the statutory
22allocations fund created under section 321.145, subsection 2,
23to each county’s county mental health and disabilities services
24fund created pursuant to section 331.424A, the amount of the
25special blackout fees collected in the previous month for the
26blackout plates issued to vehicles registered in that county.
   27d.  Upon receipt of the special registration plates, the
28applicant shall surrender the current registration plates to
29the county treasurer. The county treasurer shall validate
30the special registration plates in the same manner as regular
31registration plates are validated under this section. The
32annual special blackout fee for letter-number designated plates
33is ten dollars which shall be paid in addition to the regular
34annual registration fee. The annual fee for personalized
35blackout plates is five dollars which shall be paid in addition
-1-1to the annual special blackout fee and the regular annual
2registration fee. The annual special blackout fee shall be
3credited as provided under paragraph “c”.
   4e.  The department shall not condition the issuance of
5blackout plates on the receipt of any number of orders for
6blackout plates.
7   Sec. 2.  Section 321.438, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended
8to read as follows:
   92.  a.  A person shall not operate on the highway a motor
10vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the
11immediate right or left of the driver, or a side-wing sidewing
12 forward of and to the left or right of the driver which is
13excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult for a
14person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor vehicle
15through the windshield, window, or sidewing
 does not meet a
16minimum standard of transparency of thirty-five percent light
17transmittance
. The department shall adopt rules establishing a
18minimum measurable standard of transparency which shall apply
19to violations of this subsection.

   20b.  If a peace officer stops a motor vehicle equipped with a
21side window to the immediate right or left of the driver which
22has a transparency of seventy percent light transmittance or
23less, the driver shall lower the side window on the side of the
24officer’s approach of the vehicle to the side window’s lowest
25possible position prior to the completion of the officer’s
26approach of the vehicle, and shall keep the side window in the
27lowest possible position for the duration of the stop unless
28otherwise instructed by the officer. A person convicted of a
29violation of this paragraph is guilty of a simple misdemeanor
30punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A,
31subsection 14, paragraph “m”. However, if the violation is a
32person’s first violation of this paragraph, and the person has
33not previously been issued a warning memorandum for a violation
34of this paragraph, the officer shall issue a warning memorandum
35to the driver in lieu of a citation.
-2-
1   Sec. 3.  Section 805.8A, subsection 3, paragraph ag, Code
22019, is amended to read as follows:
   3ag.  Section 321.438, subsection 1, subsection 2, paragraph
4“a”, and subsection 3
$ 50.
5   Sec. 4.  Section 805.8A, subsection 14, Code 2019, is amended
6by adding the following new paragraph:
7   NEW PARAGRAPH.  m.  Failure to lower tinted side window.  For
8violations under section 321.438, subsection 2, paragraph “b”,
9the scheduled fine is twenty dollars.
10EXPLANATION
11The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
12the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   13BLACKOUT SPECIAL REGISTRATION PLATES. This bill authorizes
14the department of transportation (DOT) to issue blackout
15special registration plates. The bill requires the plate’s
16background to be black, the plate’s letters and numbers to
17be white, and the name of the county where the vehicle is
18registered to be displayed on the plate.
   19The bill provides that the special blackout fee for
20letter-number designated blackout plates is $35. An applicant
21may obtain personalized blackout plates upon payment of the $25
22fee for personalized plates set forth under current law, which
23is in addition to the special blackout fee. The bill requires
24the fees collected by the DOT for the plates to be paid monthly
25to the treasurer of state and deposited in the road use tax
26fund. The treasurer of state must then credit monthly from
27the statutory allocations fund to each county’s county mental
28health and disabilities services fund the amount of the special
29blackout fees collected in the previous month for the blackout
30plates issued to vehicles registered in that county.
   31Upon receipt of the special registration plates, the
32applicant must surrender the current registration plates to
33the county treasurer. The county treasurer must validate the
34special registration plates in the same manner as regular
35registration plates are validated. The annual special blackout
-3-1fee for letter-number designated plates is $10, which is in
2addition to the regular annual registration fee. The annual
3fee for personalized blackout plates is $5, which is in
4addition to the annual special blackout fee and the regular
5annual registration fee. The bill requires the annual special
6blackout fee to be credited in the same way as the special
7blackout fee.
   8The bill prohibits the DOT from conditioning the issuance
9of blackout plates on the receipt of any number of orders for
10blackout plates.
   11WINDOW TINT. Under current law, a person is prohibited from
12operating a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a
13side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or
14a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver
15which is excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult
16for a person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor
17vehicle through the windshield, window, or sidewing. Under
18rules adopted by the DOT (761 IAC 450.7), “excessively dark or
19reflective” means the windshield, side window, or sidewing does
20not meet a minimum standard of transparency of 70 percent light
21transmittance.
   22The bill prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle
23equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the
24immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward
25of and to the left or right of the driver which does not
26meet a minimum standard of transparency of 35 percent light
27transmittance. The bill also strikes the provision requiring
28the DOT to adopt rules establishing a minimum measurable
29standard of transparency. A violation of this provision of the
30bill is punishable by a scheduled fine of $50.
   31The bill also provides that if a peace officer stops a motor
32vehicle equipped with a side window to the immediate right or
33left of the driver which has a transparency of 70 percent light
34transmittance or less, the driver must lower the side window
35on the side of the officer’s approach of the vehicle to the
-4-1side window’s lowest possible position prior to the completion
2of the officer’s approach of the vehicle, and must keep the
3side window in the lowest possible position for the duration
4of the stop unless otherwise instructed by the officer. A
5violation of this provision of the bill is punishable by a
6scheduled fine of $20. However, if the violation is a person’s
7first violation, and the person has not previously been issued
8a warning memorandum for a similar violation, the officer is
9required to issue a warning memorandum to the driver in lieu
10of a citation.
-5-
ns/rh