HBA-DMH S.B. 258 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 258 By: Barrientos Transportation 4/5/2001 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, a wide variety of groups are authorized to purchase specialized license plates related to their profession, but Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel are not able to do so. Senate Bill 258 requires the Texas Department of Transportation to issue specially designed license plates for passenger cars and light trucks owned by EMS personnel. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Senate Bill 258 amends the Transportation Code to require the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to issue specially designed license plates for passenger cars and light trucks owned by emergency medical services personnel licensed or certified by the Texas Department of Health under the Emergency Medical Services Act. The bill authorizes a person to apply at any time for registration to TxDOT through the county assessor-collector of the county in which the person resides. The bill requires TxDOT to prescribe the form of the application and require an applicant to submit satisfactory proof of eligibility. The bill provides applicable registration fees and requires the county assessor-collector to send the annual fee to TxDOT to defray the cost of providing the specially designed license plates. The bill provides that registration of a vehicle with specially designed emergency medical services personnel license plates is valid for one registration year and authorizes a person to register for the person's own use only one vehicle with the specially designed license plates. The bill requires the owner of a vehicle with emergency medical services personnel license plates to return the license plates to TxDOT if the owner disposes of the vehicle during the registration year and authorizes the owner to then register another vehicle with emergency medical services personnel license plates. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.