HB 125 am: "An Act relating to a veteran's designation on an identification card or a driver's license for Hmong veterans and Lao veterans; relating to special motor vehicle registration plates for recipients of the Bronze Star awarded for valor, Silver Star, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross, Coast Guard Cross, and other awards reflecting valor; relating to special request specialty organization registration plates; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 125 am 01 "An Act relating to a veteran's designation on an identification card or a driver's license 02 for Hmong veterans and Lao veterans; relating to special motor vehicle registration 03 plates for recipients of the Bronze Star awarded for valor, Silver Star, Navy Cross, 04 Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross, Coast Guard Cross, and other awards 05 reflecting valor; relating to special request specialty organization registration plates; 06 and providing for an effective date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 18.65.310(l) is amended to read: 09 (l) At the request of the person, the department shall provide a veteran 10 designation and United States flag replica on an identification card identifying the 11 person as a retired veteran, [OR] a veteran of the armed forces of the United States 12 discharged under honorable conditions, or a Hmong veteran or Lao veteran who 13 served in military operations in support of the United States in the Kingdom of
01 Laos between February 28, 1961, and May 15, 1975. The department may not 02 charge a fee solely for the designation. To receive a veteran designation, the person 03 shall provide proof of veteran status that shows the person is retired, was [OR] 04 discharged under honorable conditions, or is a Hmong veteran or Lao veteran. The 05 department shall consult with the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs 06 to determine the proof necessary to show that a person is a Hmong veteran or 07 Lao veteran. With the approval of the person, the department shall make available to 08 the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs the name and address of a person 09 receiving a veteran designation under this subsection. Notwithstanding (a) of this 10 section, the department may charge a fee of $5 for replacement of a valid 11 identification card with a new identification card with a veteran designation. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 28.10.181 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 13 (jj) Vehicles owned by recipients of a Bronze Star awarded for valor, Silver 14 Star, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross, or Coast Guard 15 Cross. The department, upon receipt of written proof that the person is the sole or joint 16 owner of a motor vehicle, shall issue special registration plates for the motor vehicle to 17 a requesting person who has received the Bronze Star Medal awarded for valor, Silver 18 Star Medal, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross, or Coast 19 Guard Cross. The commissioner, after consulting with the person in the Department of 20 Military and Veterans' Affairs in charge of veterans' affairs, shall determine the design 21 and color of the Bronze Star awarded for valor recipient plates, Silver Star recipient 22 plates, Navy Cross recipient plates, Distinguished Service Cross recipient plates, Air 23 Force Cross recipient plates, and Coast Guard Cross recipient plates. 24 (kk) Vehicles owned by recipients of awards reflecting valor issued by the 25 armed forces of the United States. The department, upon receipt of written proof that 26 the person is the sole or joint owner of a motor vehicle, may issue special registration 27 plates for the motor vehicle to a requesting person who has received an award 28 reflecting valor issued by the armed forces of the United States other than a Purple 29 Heart, Bronze Star awarded for valor, Silver Star, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service 30 Cross, Air Force Cross, or Coast Guard Cross. The commissioner, after consulting 31 with the person in the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs in charge of
01 veterans' affairs, shall determine the design and color of the award recipient plates. 02 (ll) Special request specialty organization plates. The department shall adopt 03 regulations to allow for the issuance of special request specialty organization 04 registration plates sponsored by an organization that is based in this state and is tax 05 exempt under 26 U.S.C. 501(c), is an Alaska chapter of a national organization that is 06 tax exempt under 26 U.S.C. 501(c), is a department of the state, or is a municipality of 07 the state. The department shall determine a common design and color for the plates 08 and provide for the placement of the artwork of the organization and a short piece of 09 descriptive text on the plate. The department may disapprove the issuance of 10 registration plates under this subsection when the requested plates duplicate an 11 existing registration. The regulations 12 (1) must provide that the entity requesting the issuance of the plates 13 (A) submit an application on a form provided by the 14 department; 15 (B) pay an application fee set by the department for issuance of 16 the new registration plates; 17 (C) submit registration fees for at least 50 motor vehicles 18 before specialty registration plates will be issued; 19 (D) may not be offensive in purpose, nature, activity, or name; 20 (E) may charge a fee for issuance of a specialty registration 21 plate in addition to any registration fees set by statute or regulation; 22 (2) must provide for a minimum number of registrations and renewals 23 of the specialty plate and for cancellation of specialty plates that do not meet that 24 minimum; the regulations must provide that before a specialty plate may be cancelled 25 the entity sponsoring the plate be given notice at least six months before the proposed 26 cancellation; 27 (3) must establish procedures for owners of vehicles to purchase 28 specialty registration plates under this subsection. 29 * Sec. 3. AS 28.10.421(d)(2) is amended to read: 30 (2) special request plates for 31 (A) Alaska National Guard personnel ......... $30;
01 (B) veterans, retired veterans, or Lao veterans .... $30; 02 (C) recipients of the Purple Heart ........... none; 03 (D) recipients of the Bronze Star awarded for valor, Silver 04 Star, Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross, Coast 05 Guard Cross, or other award reflecting valor ............. $30; 06 (E) owners of custom collector vehicles ........ $50; 07 (F) [(E)] Iditarod race finishers .............. $50; 08 (G) [(F)] other special request plates .......... $30; 09 plus the fee required for that vehicle under (b) of this section; the fee required by this 10 paragraph shall be collected only on the first issuance and on the replacement of 11 special request plates; 12 * Sec. 4. AS 28.10.421(d) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 13 (26) special request specialty organization plates under 14 AS 28.10.181(ll) ......................................... $30 15 plus the fee required for that vehicle under (b), (c), (h), or (i) of this section; the $30 16 fee required by this paragraph shall be collected only on the first issuance of and the 17 replacement of the plates; in addition, an entity sponsoring a special request specialty 18 organization plate may charge a fee on first issuance and renewal of the plates. 19 * Sec. 5. AS 28.15.111(c) is amended to read: 20 (c) At the request of an applicant, the department shall provide a veteran 21 designation and United States flag replica on a license identifying the driver as a 22 retired veteran, [OR] a veteran of the armed forces of the United States discharged 23 under honorable conditions, or a Hmong veteran or Lao veteran who served in 24 military operations in support of the United States in the Kingdom of Laos 25 between February 28, 1961, and May 15, 1975. The department may not charge a 26 fee solely for the designation. To receive a veteran designation, the driver shall make 27 available proof of veteran status that shows that the person is retired, was [OR] 28 discharged under honorable conditions, or is a Hmong veteran or Lao veteran. The 29 department shall consult with the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs 30 to determine the proof necessary to show that a person is a Hmong veteran or 31 Lao veteran. With the approval of the applicant, the department shall make available
01 to the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs the name and address of a driver 02 receiving a veteran designation under this subsection. The department may charge a 03 fee of $5 for replacement of a valid driver's license with a new license with a veteran 04 designation. A replacement license with a veteran designation issued for $5 under this 05 subsection shall retain the expiration date of the license it replaces. 06 * Sec. 6. Sections 2 - 4 of this Act take effect January 1, 2018.