(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Lupus Foundation New England. The plates shall be designed to reference the Lupus Foundation New England.
(b) The special plate shall be displayed upon the same registration number assigned to the vehicle for which it was issued and shall be used in place of, and in the same manner as, the registration plates issued to the vehicle. The original registration plates for the vehicle shall be removed from the vehicle and returned to the division of motor vehicles. The registration certificate for the plates shall be carried in the vehicle in accordance with § 31-3-9. The registration certificate shall be in effect for the special plates.
(c) The Lupus Foundation New England motor vehicle plates shall be the same size as regular motor vehicle plates and shall be designed by the Lupus Foundation New England, in conjunction with the division of motor vehicles, with design approval by the Rhode Island state police.
(d) The Lupus Foundation New England plates shall be subject to a minimum prepaid order of at least nine hundred (900) sets of plates per plate type (i.e. passenger, commercial, etc.). The Lupus Foundation New England plates shall not be issued unless the minimum order(s) requirements are met. The initial order will be handled by the Lupus Foundation New England and shall not be submitted to the division of motor vehicles for production until the minimum order(s) have been met and the proper paperwork submitted to the division.
(e) The administrator of motor vehicles shall develop prepayment procedures and any other procedures deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(f) In addition to the regular prescribed motor vehicle registration fee, the Lupus Foundation New England plates shall be subject to a forty-dollar ($40.00) issuance surcharge.
(g) The forty-dollar ($40.00) issuance surcharge shall be allocated as follows: twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be allocated to the general fund and the remaining twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be distributed annually to the Lupus Foundation New England in furtherance of its mission to assist charitable organizations in Rhode Island.
(h) A ten-dollar ($10.00) surcharge for subsequent registration renewals shall be allocated to the Lupus Foundation New England.
(i) In consideration of the receipt of funds from the registration of Lupus Foundation New England license plates, the foundation must use any Rhode Island sources funds in, and for the benefit of, Rhode Island-based charitable organizations.
(j) Lupus Foundation New England will be required to submit an annual accounting report before such monies are distributed.
(k) There shall be no refunds for early cancellation of Lupus Foundation New England plates.
History of Section.
P.L. 2016, ch. 343, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 372, § 1.