BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2933

By: Martinez

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised regarding the varying amounts of additional fees imposed on motor vehicles for which the registration is applied for by a motor vehicle dealer. There have been calls from dealers across Texas for more uniform registration fees during the vehicle registration process. C.S.H.B. 2933 seeks to address this issue by providing for a $25 uniform vehicle registration fee imposed on the registration of a vehicle by a dealer.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in SECTION 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2933 amends the Transportation Code to impose an additional $25 vehicle registration fee per registration year for a vehicle for which registration is applied for by a motor vehicle dealer. The bill does the following with regard to the fee:

·       requires the fee to be collected when other registration fees are collected;

·       prohibits an additional optional vehicle registration fee authorized by a county from being imposed on a vehicle for which the initial registration is applied for by a motor vehicle dealer;

·       provides for the fee to be deposited to the credit of the county road and bridge fund of the county in which the vehicle owner is domiciled, provided that if such county imposes an additional optional vehicle registration fee, an amount equal to that additional fee is required to be deposited, remitted, and used as applicable, in accordance with the provisions authorizing that additional fee;

·       requires a county assessor-collector, for a motor vehicle for which registration is applied for in a county other than the county in which the owner is domiciled, to send, each Tuesday, each additional fee imposed under the bill's provisions to the county in which the vehicle owner is domiciled; and

·       authorizes the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) to adopt rules to administer the bill's provisions.

The bill's provisions do not apply to a vehicle registration renewal.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2933 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

While both the substitute and original prohibit certain optional county registration fees for a vehicle for which registration is applied for by a motor vehicle dealer, the original provided for the disposition of vehicle registration fees for vehicles registered in the county in which the vehicle owner is domiciled and in a county other than such a county, and the substitute imposes instead an additional $25 registration fee per registration year on those vehicles and provides for the collection and deposit of the fee. The substitute includes an authorization absent from the original for TxDMV to adopt rules to administer the provisions regarding the additional vehicle registration fee.