Relating to fees collected for agricultural related special license plates to be deposited in the Agriculture Fees Fund.
Summary
HB2957 amends West Virginia’s special registration plate law to direct where certain specialty plate fees are deposited. The bill specifically provides that fees collected from special license plates with a pollinator theme will be deposited into the Agriculture Fees Fund, while fees collected from FFA and 4-H specialty plates will be deposited into their respective funds. The measure is framed as a technical change to the state’s specialty plate revenue allocation system, rather than a broad rewrite of the special plate program.
The bill leaves the existing special plate application and issuance process largely intact, including the 100-applicant minimum, the $25 initial application fee, the $15 annual fee, and the commissioner’s authority over approval, design, and discontinuation of plates. It also preserves the general rule that specialty plate fees are collected by the Division of Motor Vehicles, but changes the destination of revenues for agricultural-related plates. In effect, the bill creates a clearer statutory link between these specialty plates and agricultural support funds.
Impact
HB2957 would amend §17A-3-14e of the West Virginia Code to redirect specialty plate revenue for pollinator, FFA, and 4-H plates into designated agricultural-related funds rather than leaving those receipts in the general special-plate fee structure. The practical impact is on the distribution of fee revenue, not on vehicle registration eligibility or plate issuance standards. It would affect the Division of Motor Vehicles, the Agriculture Fees Fund, and the organizations associated with these specialty plates by ensuring those fees support the intended programs and funds.
Sentiment
The available context suggests the bill is likely noncontroversial and supported as a targeted administrative and funding clarification. It was introduced by request of the Department of Agriculture and referred to the Committee on Energy and Public Works, which is consistent with a routine specialty-plate fiscal measure. No committee testimony or recorded votes were provided, so there is no evidence of opposition in the record supplied.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. If any debate were to arise, it would most likely concern whether specialty plate revenues should be earmarked for the Agriculture Fees Fund and related FFA and 4-H funds, versus remaining in the broader state fee structure. Another possible issue is the continued use of specialty plate fees to support organization-specific funds, but no speaker or voting record in the supplied context indicates active disagreement.
Expiring funds to the unappropriated surplus balance in the State Fund, General Revenue, from the Department Revenue, State Budget Office, PEIA Rainy Day Fund