MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES, the official text

S2418 2026 -- S 2418 ======== LC004214 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ A N A C T RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES Introduced By: Senators Lawson, LaMountain, Gallo, Lauria, and Britto Date Introduced: January 30, 2026 Referred To: Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Section 31-6-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-6 entitled Registration 2 Fees is hereby amended to read as follows: 3 31-6-8. Disabled veterans. 4 (a) Any veteran who has been honorably discharged from the service of the armed forces 5 or the Merchant Marine of the United States in any of the wars or campaigns in which the United 6 States has been engaged and who, while engaged in these wars or campaigns or as a result of 7 engagement in these wars or campaigns, by reason of amputation, has lost one or both of the 8 veteran’s arms, hands, feet, or legs, or who, by reason of other permanent injury, has lost the use 9 of one or both of the veteran’s arms, hands, feet, or legs, or to whom has been granted a motor 10 vehicle under chapter 870-2D, United States Public Laws 663, enacted 1946, 79th Congress, or has 11 suitable documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to establish that the veteran: 12 (1) Has a combined service connected disability rating of one hundred percent (100%); or 13 (2) Is seventy-five (75) years of age or older with a combined service connected disability 14 rating of seventy percent (70%); or 15 (3) Is considered “individually unemployable” due to the veteran’s service-connected 16 disability, shall be exempt from the payment of any fee for the annual registration of and a license 17 to operate that motor vehicle. 18 (b) The administrator for the division of motor vehicles shall issue to an eligible veteran 19 for use on an automobile, or on a commercial vehicle having a gross weight of twelve thousand 1 pounds (12,000 lbs.) or less, registration plates designated “Disabled Veteran.” Upon the death of 2 the holder of “Disabled Veteran” plates, the plates may be transferred to the veteran’s surviving 3 spouse for the spouse’s lifetime or until the spouse remarries. Only one set of “Disabled Veteran” 4 plates shall be issued to an eligible veteran and only after certification of eligibility from the 5 Veterans’ Administration or other satisfactory documentation of eligibility is presented. 6 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. ======== LC004214 ======== LC004214 - Page 2 of 3 EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF A N A C T RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES *** 1 This act would include a veteran who is seventy-five (75) years of age or older with a 2 combined service-connected disability rating of seventy percent (70%), as eligible for disabled 3 veterans license plates. A veteran who is “individually unemployable” due to a service-connected 4 disability shall be exempted from the payment of the annual registration of and license to operate 5 fee. 6 This act would take effect upon passage. ======== LC004214 ======== LC004214 - Page 3 of 3