H*4973(Rat #0272, Act #0255 of 2018)  General Bill, By Bales, Taylor, Brown, 
Hosey, Simrill, Hixon, Blackwell and Young
 AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-2150, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
 RELATING TO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES ISSUED TO CERTAIN CURRENT AND RETIRED
 PUBLIC OFFICIALS, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT REQUIRES A FORMER MEMBER
 OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RECEIVE RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO OBTAIN A SPECIAL
 LICENSE PLATE, TO PROVIDE THAT A FORMER MEMBER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MAY BE
 ISSUED TWO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO RESIGNS
 FROM OFFICE AS A RESULT OF AN INVESTIGATION OR CONVICTION OF CERTAIN CRIMES
 MAY NOT APPLY FOR OR MAINTAIN A SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE; TO AMEND SECTION
 56-3-2350, RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL
 REGISTRATION FOR A PERSON ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF OPERATING MOTOR VEHICLES
 TO FACILITATE THE MOVEMENT OF CERTAIN VEHICLES, SO AS TO DEFINE THE TERM
 "FINANCIAL INSTITUTION", AND TO PROVIDE THAT A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ENGAGED
 IN THE BUSINESS OF REPOSSESSING VEHICLES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES MAY APPLY
 FOR SPECIAL REGISTRATION PURSUANT TO THIS PROVISION, TO REVISE THE APPLICATION
 FOR PERSONS ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF OPERATING VEHICLES TO MOVE VEHICLES
 FROM A MANUFACTURER TO A DEALER OR DISTRIBUTOR OR FROM A RAILROAD TERMINAL TO
 CERTAIN LOCATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT ALL REGISTRATION RECORDS AND REGISTERED
 VEHICLES MUST BE AVAILABLE TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR INSPECTION; AND TO AMEND
 SECTION 56-3-2370, RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF TRANSPORTER LICENSE PLATES, SO
 AS TO REVISE THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE LICENSE PLATES MAY BE USED. - ratified
 title

   02/21/18  House  Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 12)
   02/21/18  House  Referred to Committee on Education and Public
                     Works (House Journal-page 12)
   02/22/18  House  Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Taylor,
                     Brown, Hosey, Simrill, Hixon, Blackwell, Young
   03/22/18  House  Committee report: Favorable with amendment
                     Education and Public Works (House Journal-page 50)
   04/03/18  House  Amended (House Journal-page 83)
   04/03/18  House  Read second time (House Journal-page 83)
   04/03/18  House  Roll call Yeas-77  Nays-22 (House Journal-page 84)
   04/04/18  House  Read third time and sent to Senate
                     (House Journal-page 9)
   04/04/18         Scrivener's error corrected
   04/09/18  Senate Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 18)
   04/09/18  Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation
                     (Senate Journal-page 18)
   05/02/18  Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
                     Transportation (Senate Journal-page 48)
   05/03/18         Scrivener's error corrected
   05/09/18  Senate Committee Amendment Adopted (Senate Journal-page 98)
   05/09/18  Senate Amended (Senate Journal-page 98)
   05/09/18  Senate Read second time (Senate Journal-page 98)
   05/09/18  Senate Roll call Ayes-26  Nays-17 (Senate Journal-page 98)
   05/10/18         Scrivener's error corrected
   05/10/18  Senate Read third time and returned to House with
                     amendments (Senate Journal-page 153)
   05/10/18  House  Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled
                     (House Journal-page 81)
   05/10/18  House  Roll call Yeas-91  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 81)
   05/14/18         Ratified R 272
   05/19/18         Vetoed by Governor
   06/27/18  House  Veto sustained Yeas-60  Nays-46 (House Journal-page 56)
   06/27/18  House  Reconsidered (House Journal-page 90)
   06/27/18  House  Veto overridden by originating body Yeas-74 
                     Nays-17 (House Journal-page 90)
   06/28/18  Senate Veto overridden Ayes-34  Nays-6
                     (Senate Journal-page 51)
   07/05/18         Effective date See Act
   07/12/18         Act No. 255

(A255, R272, H4973)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-2150, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES ISSUED TO CERTAIN CURRENT AND RETIRED PUBLIC OFFICIALS, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT REQUIRES A FORMER MEMBER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RECEIVE RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO OBTAIN A SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE, TO PROVIDE THAT A FORMER MEMBER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MAY BE ISSUED TWO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO RESIGNS FROM OFFICE AS A RESULT OF AN INVESTIGATION OR CONVICTION OF CERTAIN CRIMES MAY NOT APPLY FOR OR MAINTAIN A SPECIAL LICENSE PLATE; TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-2350, RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL REGISTRATION FOR A PERSON ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF OPERATING MOTOR VEHICLES TO FACILITATE THE MOVEMENT OF CERTAIN VEHICLES, SO AS TO DEFINE THE TERM "FINANCIAL INSTITUTION", AND TO PROVIDE THAT A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF REPOSSESSING VEHICLES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES MAY APPLY FOR SPECIAL REGISTRATION PURSUANT TO THIS PROVISION, TO REVISE THE APPLICATION FOR PERSONS ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF OPERATING VEHICLES TO MOVE VEHICLES FROM A MANUFACTURER TO A DEALER OR DISTRIBUTOR OR FROM A RAILROAD TERMINAL TO CERTAIN LOCATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT ALL REGISTRATION RECORDS AND REGISTERED VEHICLES MUST BE AVAILABLE TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR INSPECTION; AND TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-2370, RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF TRANSPORTER LICENSE PLATES, SO AS TO REVISE THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE LICENSE PLATES MAY BE USED.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Special license plates

SECTION    1.    Section 56-3-2150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2150.    The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue special motor vehicle license plates to former members of the South Carolina Delegation of the United States Congress, retired judicial officers elected by the General Assembly or confirmed by the United States Senate, respectively, members of municipal and county councils, county coroners, and mayors of this State for private passenger motor vehicles owned by them. The department also may issue special motor vehicle license plates to former members of the General Assembly for private passenger motor vehicles and vehicles classified as private passenger motor vehicles in Section 56-3-630 owned by them. The biennial fee for these special license plates is the same as the fee provided in Section 56-3-2020, and only one plate may be issued to former members of the South Carolina Delegation of the United States Congress, retired judicial officers elected by the General Assembly or confirmed by the United States Senate, respectively, a councilman or a mayor. A coroner and a former member of the General Assembly may be issued two license plates. These license plates must be issued or revalidated biennially for the regular registration and licensing period. A person who has been investigated by state or local authorities resulting in a resignation or convicted of a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude, or another crime punishable by imprisonment for at least one year may not apply for special motor vehicle license plates issued pursuant to this section. A person convicted of an offense contained in this section subsequent to issuance of a special motor vehicle license plate shall surrender the special license plate to the Department of Motor Vehicles within three days of the date of the conviction."

Transporter license plates

SECTION    2.    Section 56-3-2350 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2350.    (A)    For purposes of this section 'financial institution' means a supervised financial organization as defined in Section 37-1-301(27) or a supervised lender as defined in Section 37-3-501(2).

(B)    A financial institution engaged in the business of repossessing vehicles or accepting voluntary repossession or relinquishment of vehicles for which the financial institution has exercised rights under a valid security agreement or lien may apply for special registration only for the purpose of repossession of such vehicles; acceptance of voluntary repossession or reclamation of such vehicles; transport of such vehicles to locations of repair, cleaning, or reconditioning; storage of such vehicles; or demonstration of such vehicles for purposes of potential resale. Transporter plates must not be used to operate wreckers or service vehicles. The use of transporter plates for demonstration purposes is limited to prospective purchasers and limited to seven days. The financial institution must provide the prospective purchaser with a dated demonstration certificate approved by the department.

(C)    A person engaged in the business of limited operation of motor vehicles to facilitate the movement of vehicles from a manufacturer to a dealer or distributor, or from a railroad terminal yard to a temporary storage facility prior to delivery to a dealer, or for the movement of vehicles to further the construction of cabs or bodies, or in connection with the foreclosure or repossession of these motor vehicles may apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for special registration to be issued to and used by the person upon the following conditions:

(1)    The application must be in a form prescribed by the department to include the applicable liability insurance as prescribed by statute and filed with the department each year. If the applicant is an entity with multiple branches, then an application may be made for each branch, not to exceed two registrations. The application must include the name and residence address of the applicant as follows:

(a)    if an individual, the name under which he intends to conduct business;

(b)    if a partnership, the name and residence address of each member of the partnership and the name under which the business is to be conducted, and if multiple branches are intended to have registrations, an appropriate identifier for each branch;

(c)    if a corporation, the name and company address of the corporation and the name and residence address of its responsible officer.

(2)    The application must be certified by the applicant and by an agent of the department to verify the facts set forth in the application.

(3)    The annual fee for registration is fifty dollars, plus an annual fee of ten dollars for each license plate.

(4)    License plates authorized by this section must not be used on vehicles that are loaned, rented, or leased by the licensed registrants to employees or any other individuals.

(D)    All records relating to registration must be open at all reasonable times for inspection and copying by the department or any of its duly authorized agents. The vehicles for which special registrations are issued must be made available to the department or any of its duly authorized agents at the place where the vehicles may be located at the time that the department or any of its duly authorized agents request an opportunity to inspect them."

Transporter license plates

SECTION    3.    Section 56-3-2370 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2370.    Transporter license plates issued under this article may be transferred from vehicle to vehicle, but shall be used only for the limited purposes as provided in Section 56-3-2350."

Time effective

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 14th day of May, 2018.

Vetoed by the Governor -- 5/19/18.

Veto overridden by House -- 6/27/18.

Veto overridden by Senate -- 6/28/18.