H 4955 General Bill, By Jennings and Cato
 A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 56, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
 RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND LICENSING, BY ADDING ARTICLE 87 SO
 AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NASCAR SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES.

   04/13/00  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-56
   04/13/00  House  Referred to Committee on Education and Public
                     Works HJ-56

TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 56, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND LICENSING, BY ADDING ARTICLE 87 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NASCAR SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 87

Section 56-3-8700. (A) The Department of Public Safety may issue special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger carrying motor vehicles or light pickups having an empty weight of six thousand pounds or less and a gross weight of nine thousand pounds or less registered in their names which may have imprinted on the plate an emblem, a seal, or other symbol the department considers appropriate to a NASCAR driver or team. A NASCAR driver or team may submit to the department for approval of the emblem, seal, or other symbol it desires to be used for its respective special license plate. Before a design is approved, however, the NASCAR driver or team must submit to the department written authorization for the use of any copyrighted or registered logo, trademark, or design. A NASCAR driver or team also may request a change in the emblem, seal, or other symbol once the existing supply has been exhausted. The fee for this special license plate is seventy dollars every two years in addition to the regular motor vehicle license fee set forth in Article 5. This special license plate must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates. The special license plates must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month they are issued.

(B) The fees collected pursuant to this section, after the costs to produce and administer the distribution of this special license plate, including any licensing fees to a NASCAR organization, have been satisfied, must be deposited in a special account, separate and apart from the General Fund, designated the South Carolina Children's Emergency Shelter Fund and distributed to the South Carolina Children's Emergency Shelter Foundation or another nonprofit organization designated by the foundation for the benefit of the South Carolina Children's Emergency Shelters. Any such nonprofit organization must be administered by the foundation, and funds distributed to the organization may be used only for providing donations to support the South Carolina Children's Emergency Shelters. Funds received by the foundation pursuant to this section must be deposited in an appropriate nonprofit account designated by the foundation.

(C) Before the Department of Public Safety produces and distributes a special license plate pursuant to this section, it must receive four hundred prepaid applications for the special license plate or a deposit of four thousand dollars from the individual or organization seeking issuance of the license plate. If a deposit of four thousand dollars is made by an individual or organization pursuant to this section, the department must refund the four thousand dollars once an equivalent amount of license plate fees is collected for that organization's license plate. If the equivalent amount is not collected within four years of the first issuance of the license plate, the department shall retain the deposit.

(D) If the department receives less than three hundred biennial applications and renewals for a particular NASCAR special license plate, it may not produce additional special license plates in that series. However, the department shall continue to issue special license plates of that series until the existing inventory is exhausted."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.