House Bill No. 554

Introduced By simpkins, mesaros, ryan, christiaens, galvin, cobb, wyatt, kottel, schmidt, debruycker, clark, doherty, wilson, franklin

A Bill for an Act entitled: An Act eliminating the provisions that allow certain persons claiming Montana residency who are on active military duty and living outside of Montana to purchase license plates and register a motor vehicle for the cost of registration alone; amending section 61-3-456, MCA; and providing an immediate effective date and for applicability.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

Section 1.  Section 61-3-456, MCA, is amended to read:

"61-3-456.  Registration of motor vehicle owned and operated by Montana resident on active military duty stationed outside Montana. (1) An As an incentive for military service, an owner of a motor vehicle who is a Montana resident on who entered active military duty from Montana and who is stationed outside Montana may file with the department an application for the registration of the motor vehicle. The application must be sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths. The application must state:

(a)  the name and address of the owner;

(b)  the make, the gross weight, the year and number of the model, and the manufacturer's identification number and serial number of the motor vehicle; and

(c)  that the vehicle is owned and operated by a Montana resident who meets the qualifications of subsection (1) and is on active military duty and stationed outside Montana.

(2)  The registration fee for a motor vehicle registered under subsection (1) is as provided in 61-3-311 and 61-3-321.

(3)  A vehicle registered under this section is not subject to:

(a)  the taxes described in 61-3-303(2)(b);

(b)  assessment under 15-8-202 or 61-3-503; or

(c)  any of the fees provided in part 5 of this chapter."

Section 2.  Applicability. [This act] does not apply to military registrations under 61-3-456 that were issued by the department of justice prior to [the effective date of this act]. Military registrations issued under 61-3-456 that no longer qualify expire December 31, 1997.

Section 3.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

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