AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles offers specialty license plates for commercial and personal vehicles registered in the state. At this time, current members of the armed services as well as military veterans can get specific specialty plates. Options range from general branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, et cetera) to particular awards received while in uniform (Purple Heart, Distinguished Service Medal, Medal of Honor, et cetera). World War II, Vietnam, Korea, and Operation Iraqi Freedom all have their own plate design.
Operation Enduring Freedom has a specialty plate, with the text reading "Enduring Freedom."
This bill creates a new plate specific to the Afghanistan theater of Operation Enduring Freedom. The text will read "Enduring Freedom Afghanistan."
As proposed, S.B. 597 amends current law relating to the issuance of specialty license plates for certain Operation Enduring Freedom veterans.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 504.314, Transportation Code, as follows:
Sec. 504.314. ENDURING FREEDOM VETERANS. (a) Creates this subsection from existing text and makes no further changes.
(b) Requires the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to issue specialty license plates for persons who served in the United States armed services and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Requires that the license plates include the words "Enduring Freedom Afghanistan."
SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2013.