By Hilbert                                            H.B. No. 2264
       74R4529 DWS-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to registration and insurance requirements for a military
    1-3  collector's vehicle.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 5a, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the
    1-6  41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-5a,
    1-7  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections
    1-8  (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
    1-9        (a)  Passenger cars, trucks, and motorcycles that are
   1-10  twenty-five (25) or more years old and military collector's
   1-11  vehicles<,> shall be excepted from the annual license fee for
   1-12  registration otherwise provided by law upon written, sworn
   1-13  application by the owner thereof on a form furnished by the
   1-14  Department.  Such application for a passenger car, truck, or
   1-15  motorcycle shall show the make, body style, motor number, and age
   1-16  of the vehicle.  An application for a military collector's vehicle
   1-17  shall include the vehicle's year of manufacture and a description
   1-18  of the vehicle containing information required by the Department.
   1-19  Each application shall include <, and> any other information
   1-20  required by the Department, and shall also state that the vehicle
   1-21  is a collector's item and will be used solely for exhibitions, club
   1-22  activities, parades, and other functions of public interest, and in
   1-23  no case for regular transportation, and will carry no advertising.
   1-24        (b)  The Department shall issue license plates which shall
    2-1  contain the words "Antique Auto," "Antique Truck," <or> "Antique
    2-2  Motorcycle," or "Military Vehicle" and which are valid for a
    2-3  maximum period of five (5) years.  Alternatively, the Department
    2-4  may allow antique license plates to be used on an antique vehicle
    2-5  if the owner of the vehicle presents the antique license plates to
    2-6  the Department for approval and the antique license plates were
    2-7  issued by this state in the same year as the model year of the
    2-8  vehicle.  If antique license plates are used on a vehicle, the
    2-9  Department shall issue to the owner a symbol, valid for a maximum
   2-10  period of five (5) years, to be placed on one of the license
   2-11  plates, as determined by the Department, designating the year in
   2-12  which the vehicle was registered under this section.  The
   2-13  Department may exempt a military collector's vehicle from the
   2-14  requirement to display license plates or any symbol, tab, or other
   2-15  device indicating registration of the vehicle if the Department
   2-16  determines that the exemption is necessary to maintain the
   2-17  vehicle's accurate military design or markings.
   2-18        (d)  On application and payment of the proper fee to the
   2-19  County Tax Assessor-Collector of the county in which the owner
   2-20  resides, the Department shall furnish such license plates or a
   2-21  symbol, if applicable, and receipts which shall be issued to the
   2-22  owner.  Any required <and such> plates or symbol shall be valid
   2-23  without renewal for the period for which the vehicle is registered,
   2-24  provided such vehicle continues to be owned by the same owner.
   2-25        (h)  In this section, "military collector's vehicle" means a
   2-26  vehicle, regardless of the vehicle's size, weight, or year of
   2-27  manufacture, that:
    3-1              (1)  was manufactured for use in a country's military
    3-2  forces;
    3-3              (2)  is maintained to accurately represent its military
    3-4  design and markings;
    3-5              (3)  is not used for a commercial purpose; and
    3-6              (4)  is owned by:
    3-7                    (A)  an organization described by Section
    3-8  501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the activities of which
    3-9  include the restoration or display of vehicles manufactured for use
   3-10  in a country's military forces; or
   3-11                    (B)  a member of or person otherwise affiliated
   3-12  with an organization described by Paragraph (A) of this subdivision
   3-13  who uses the vehicle primarily in activities organized or sponsored
   3-14  by the organization.
   3-15        SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 5, Insurance Code, is
   3-16  amended by adding Article 5.01-3 to read as follows:
   3-17        Art. 5.01-3.  MILITARY COLLECTOR'S VEHICLES.  (a)  A rating
   3-18  plan that includes a classification applicable to antique, private
   3-19  passenger vehicles maintained primarily for use in exhibitions,
   3-20  club activities, parades, and other functions of public interest
   3-21  and occasionally used for other purposes, must include in that
   3-22  classification military collector's vehicles maintained for those
   3-23  uses.
   3-24        (b)  In this article, "military collector's vehicle" has the
   3-25  meaning assigned by Section 5a(h), Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts
   3-26  of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article
   3-27  6675a-5a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
    4-1        SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
    4-2  5a, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd
    4-3  Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-5a, Vernon's Texas Civil
    4-4  Statutes), apply only to a vehicle registration period beginning on
    4-5  or after the effective date of this Act.
    4-6        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    4-7        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
    4-8  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    4-9  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   4-10  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   4-11  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.