HF 588 – Disabled parking placards
HF 617 – Special license plates with decal
HF 2345 – County engineer reports on allocation of RUTF dollars to repair bridges
HF 2356 – Towing implements of husbandry in tandem
FLOOR ACTION:
HF 588 eliminates Iowa’s non-expiring persons with disabilities removable windshield parking placard and replaces it with a placard that expires after five years. If a person continues to have a need for the placard, they may renew it through the Department of Transportation (DOT) within 30 days before or after the expiration date by submitting a statement from a medical professional. The bill also requires placard to be entirely visible through the windshield when the vehicle is parked in a handicap spot. The bill takes effect January 1, 2017, and applies to new placards issued on or after that date. Non-expiring placards issued before then are grandfathered in.
[3/16: 47-2 (Sodders, Taylor “no”; Bertrand absent)]
HF 617 eliminates the current processes for creating special license plates and establishes a new process, which will take effect January 1, 2017. Special license plates currently in production will be grandfathered in. The Department of Transportation will issue special license plates with a space for a nonprofit organization decal designed, produced and issued by the organization, rather than the DOT. The DOT may establish criteria for decal designs.
The plates will be available without an additional special plate fee at the time of initial registration of a vehicle, and will be renewed annually upon payment of the vehicle’s annual registration fee. A $5 replacement fee will be charged if the plates are issued in exchange for regular or grandfathered-in special plates. The new plates can be personalized upon payment of personalized plate fees.
A qualifying organization must be a nonprofit, whose primary activity serves the community, contributes to the welfare of others and is not discriminatory. A group of organizations with a common purpose may also be approved to issue a decal. The organization must apply to the DOT for approval by submitting information about its nonprofit status, its proposed decal design, legal rights to use the design, an explanation of the decal, eligibility requirements to purchase the decal, and fees to be charge for the decal. If the DOT approves the application, the organization will produce, administer and issue the decal. The organization will retain the fees charged for the decal.
[3/16: 47-2 (Bisignano, Quirmbach “no”; Bertrand absent)]
HF 2345 requires county engineers to file annual reports with the Department of Transportation detailing how they use money from the Road Use Tax Fund to replace or repair structurally deficient bridges. Each report must include the number of fully functional county bridges, partially replaced or repaired county bridges, structurally deficient county bridges, and pending county bridge replacement or repair projects. DOT must compile the reports and submit the cumulative report electronically to the chairs of the Senate and House Transportation Committees and to the Legislative Services Agency. The report requirement sunsets after three years. [3/16: 49-0 (Bertrand absent)]
HF 2356 allows the towing of more than one implement of husbandry that is not self-propelled if the implements are capable of being towed in tandem.
[3/15: 49-0 (Chapman absent)]