H 7096

2026 -- H 7096
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 LC003847
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  STATE  OF       RHODE  ISLAND
  IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
  JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
  ____________
  AN ACT
  RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES
  Introduced By: Representatives Furtado, Boylan, Dawson, and Kazarian
  Date Introduced: January 14, 2026
  Referred To: House Finance
 It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1SECTION 1. Section 31-6-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-6 entitled "Registration
2 Fees" is hereby amended to read as follows:
331-6-8. 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.
6SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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  EXPLANATION
  BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
  OF
  AN ACT
  RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES
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1This 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.
6This act would take effect upon passage.
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