SB 283

General Assembly  Raised Bill No. 283
  February Session, 2026  LCO No. 1681
 Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AND MILITARY
 AFFAIRS
 Introduced by:
   (VA)
 AN ACT CONCERNING MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES,
 VETERANS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
1Section 1. Section 27-102a of the general statutes is repealed and the
2    following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):
3      (a) Notwithstanding any provisions of the general statutes with
4   respect to annual or biennial license or registration fees or occupational
5   taxes, any resident of Connecticut on active duty with the armed forces
6   of the United States shall be exempt from the payment of such fees or
7   taxes during [his] such resident's period of active service and for one
8   year following the date of [his] such resident's honorable discharge [or
9   the date of his] from, or of such resident's release under honorable
10   conditions [,] from, such service.
11      (b) Any member of the armed forces of any state or of any reserve
12   component of the armed forces of the United States who has been called
13   to active service in the armed forces of any state of the United States
14   shall be exempt from the payment of any fine or late fee assessed for
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15 failure to renew a motor vehicle operator's license or motor vehicle
16 registration or for failure to have emissions inspection performed in a
17 timely manner provided such member renews the license or registration
18 or has the member's vehicle inspected at an official emissions inspection
19 station no later than [sixty] ninety days following the date such member
20 is released from the qualifying military service.
21   Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 14-41 of the 2026 supplement to the
22 general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
23 thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):
24    (a) (1) An original motor vehicle operator's license shall expire within
25 a period not exceeding seven years following the date of the operator's
26 next birthday. [The] Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this
27 subsection, the fee for such license shall be eighty-four dollars. Upon
28 renewal of a license, the commissioner may issue a license for a period
29 to be determined by the commissioner, provided such period does not
30 exceed eight years. The fee for the renewal of a license that expires eight
31 years from the date of issuance shall be ninety-six dollars. The
32 commissioner shall charge a prorated amount of such fee for a license
33 that expires less than eight years from the date of issuance.
34   (2) The commissioner shall waive the fee for an original motor vehicle
35 operator's license for any person who has been verified by the
36 Department of Veterans Affairs to be a veteran, as defined in section 14-
37 36h, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of section 14-
38 36h.
39   Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 1-1h of the general statutes is repealed
40 and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):
41    (a) Any person who does not possess a valid motor vehicle operator's
42 license may apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for an identity
43 card. The application for an identity card shall be accompanied by the
44 birth certificate of the applicant or a certificate of identification of the
45 applicant issued and authorized for such use by the Department of
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46 Correction and a fee of twenty-eight dollars. Such application shall
47 include: (1) The applicant's name; (2) the applicant's address; (3)
48 whether the address is permanent or temporary; (4) the applicant's date
49 of birth; (5) notice to the applicant that false statements on such
50 application are punishable under section 53a-157b; and (6) such other
51 pertinent information as the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles deems
52 necessary. The applicant shall sign the application in the presence of an
53 official of the Department of Motor Vehicles. The commissioner may
54 waive the fee for any applicant (A) who has voluntarily surrendered
55 such applicant's motor vehicle operator's license, (B) whose license has
56 been refused by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision (4) of
57 subsection (e) of section 14-36, or (C) [who is both a veteran, as defined
58 in subsection (a) of section 27-103, and blind, as defined in subsection
59 (a) of section 1-1f, or (D)] who is a resident of a homeless shelter or other
60 facility for homeless persons or a certified homeless youth or certified
61 homeless young adult. The commissioner shall waive the fee for any
62 applicant who has been verified by the Department of Veterans Affairs
63 to be a veteran, as defined in section 14-36h, in accordance with the
64 provisions of subsection (e) of section 14-36h. The commissioner shall
65 adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to
66 establish the procedure and qualifications for the issuance of an identity
67 card to any such homeless applicant. For the purposes of this subsection,
68 "certified homeless youth" and "certified homeless young adult" have
69 the same meanings as provided in section 7-36.
  This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
  sections:
  Section 1     October 1, 2026  27-102a
  Sec. 2        October 1, 2026  14-41(a)
  Sec. 3        October 1, 2026  1-1h(a)
 Statement of Purpose:
 To (1) increase from sixty days to ninety days the grace period afforded
 to members of the armed forces, upon their return from service out of
 state, for the completion of certain motor vehicle-related renewals or
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testing, and (2) waive the fee for original issuance of a motor vehicle
operator's license or identity card in the case of any person whose
veteran status is verified by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
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