AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- REGISTRATION FEES

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jennifer Boylan and 3 co-sponsors

Expands Disabled Veteran license eligibility to include veterans aged 75+ with 50%+ disability, exempting them from annual vehicle registration fees.

04/29/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

Summary — HB 6275 (2025) "An Act Relating to Motor and Other Vehicles — Registration Fees" (Rhode Island)

Status
- Introduced April 25, 2025 (House) by Representatives Furtado, Kazarian, Boylan, and Dawson.
- Referred to House Veterans' Affairs; scheduled for consideration April 29, 2025.
- Committee action (04/29/2025): recommended the measure be held for further study.
- Effective date (if enacted): upon passage.

Purpose / Intent
- To expand eligibility for “Disabled Veteran” motor vehicle registration plates and the related exemption from annual registration fees, by adding a class of older veterans with a specified disability rating.

Key provisions
- Amends R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-6-8 (Registration Fees — Disabled veterans).
- Current qualifying categories retained (examples include veterans with amputations or loss/use of limbs; veterans with a 100% combined service‑connected disability rating; veterans deemed “individually unemployable”; or recipients of a government motor vehicle grant under historical federal law).
- NEW: Adds eligibility for a veteran who is 75 years of age or older with a combined service‑connected disability rating of 50% to be exempt from paying annual motor vehicle registration fees and to receive “Disabled Veteran” plates.
- The Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will issue “Disabled Veteran” plates for use on:
- passenger automobiles, and
- commercial vehicles with a gross weight of 12,000 pounds or less.
- Only one set of “Disabled Veteran” plates may be issued to an eligible veteran.
- Upon the veteran’s death, the plates may be transferred to the surviving spouse for the spouse’s lifetime or until the spouse remarries.
- Eligibility requires certification from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or other satisfactory documentation.
- The act takes effect upon passage.

Who is affected
- Eligible disabled veterans in Rhode Island: current categories plus the newly added category (age ≥75 with a 50% combined disability rating).
- Surviving spouses of eligible veterans may retain plates under the specified conditions.
- DMV (administration of plates/verification) and potentially state fee revenue administrators.

Potential impact
- Direct benefit: expanded fee exemption and access to disabled veteran plates for additional elderly veterans with disabilities.
- Fiscal: modest reduction in annual registration fee revenue depending on the number of newly eligible veterans; administrative workload for DMV to process additional applications and certification.
- Social/administrative: may improve mobility and reduce costs for older disabled veterans.

Note on source material
- The provided materials included a separate, unrelated draft titled the “Access to Health Facilities Act” (appearing to be from a different jurisdiction). That content is not part of this Rhode Island vehicle-registration bill; the summary above reflects the Rhode Island HB 6275 (LC002757) concerning disabled veteran registration plates. If you intended analysis of the other draft, please confirm and I will summarize that text separately.