Bill Text: SC H4743 | 2011-2012 | 119th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Special license plates

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-07 - Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works [H4743 Detail]

Download: South_Carolina-2011-H4743-Introduced.html

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A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-1110, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES ISSUED TO WARTIME DISABLED VETERANS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A VETERAN IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE A NEW CERTIFICATION OF DISABILITY AT THE TIME A NEW LICENSE PLATE IS ISSUED IF THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES DOES NOT HAVE A PRIOR NOTICE THAT THE VETERAN IS TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY DISABLED; AND TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-1910, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO LICENSE PLATES ISSUED TO HANDICAPPED PERSONS, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM "HANDICAPPED".

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 56-3-1110(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 398 of 2006, is further amended to read:

"(A)    A wartime disabled veteran who is entitled to compensation for the loss, or loss of use of one or both legs or arms, or the permanent impairment of vision in both eyes to a degree as to constitute virtual blindness and is also entitled to a special monthly statutory award by reason thereof or any South Carolina veteran classified as totally and permanently disabled due to service-connected disabilities as determined from medical records on file with the Veterans Administration Department of Veterans Affairs or a certificate signed by the county veterans affairs officer certifying the disability may make application for registration and license of his owned or leased private passenger motor vehicle to the Department of Motor Vehicles without accompanying the application with the usual fee for registration and license of a vehicle of similar type. The department shall issue the license plates upon the receipt of an application in the form required by the department. Not more than two disabled veteran license plates may be issued to a wartime disabled veteran. A veteran who is issued a license plate under the provisions of this section must provide a new certification as prescribed by this subsection at the time a new license plate is issued, provided that the department does not have a prior notification from the Department of Veterans Affairs or a county veterans affairs office certifying that the veteran is totally and permanently disabled. A surviving spouse of such a veteran is also eligible to obtain such plate so long as the surviving spouse does not remarry. When a new license plate is issued to a surviving spouse, the spouse must certify on a form prescribed by the department that the spouse has not remarried."

SECTION    2.    Section 56-3-1910(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 24 of 2009, is further amended to read:

"(A)    As used in this article, 'handicapped' means a person who has one or more of the following conditions:

(1)    an inability to ordinarily walk one hundred feet nonstop without aggravating an existing medical condition, including the increase of pain;

(2)    an inability to ordinarily walk without the use of, or assistance from a brace, cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device;

(3)    a restriction by lung disease to the extent that the person's forced expiratory volume for one second when measured by spirometry is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest;

(4)    requires use of portable oxygen;

(5)    a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards established by the American Heart Association. If the person's status improves to a higher level, for example as a result of bypass surgery or transplantation, he no longer meets this criteria;

(6)    a substantial limitation in the ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, for example, coordination problems and muscle spasticity due to conditions that include Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, or multiple sclerosis; or

(7)    blindness; or

(8)    a determination by the Social Security Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying that the veteran is totally and permanently disabled."

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.