Tribal vehicle registration exemption implementation.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included details not explicitly stated or implied by the official source material.

Tribal Vehicle Registration Fee Exemption

The bill changes the process for tribal members living on the Wind River Reservation to receive an exemption from vehicle registration fees.

What This Bill Does

• Changes how tribal members first register their vehicles to receive a fee exemption by requiring them to file a sworn claim with the county treasurer at the time of initial registration.
• Eliminates the need for annual sworn claims once the initial exemption is granted.
• Requires tribal members to notify the county treasurer if they no longer qualify for the exemption and must pay fees as required under paragraph (a)(i) of this section beginning when the vehicle's annual registration is next due following the change in eligibility.

Who It Names or Affects

• Tribal members who live on the Wind River Reservation and own vehicles primarily operated within its boundaries.

Terms To Know

Enrolled Member

A person officially recognized as a member of an Indian tribe, in this case, either the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho tribes.

Wind River Reservation

An area within Wyoming where the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes are located.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill only affects tribal members who live on the Wind River Reservation.
• It does not specify how much money will be reimbursed to county treasurers for lost revenue due to exemptions.
• The exact forms and procedures for implementing this change are left to the department in consultation with the state treasurer.

Official Summary Text

Bill Summary - 21LSO-0250
Bill No.:

HB0025

Effective:

7/1/2021 12:00:00 AM

LSO No.:

21LSO-0250

Enrolled Act No.:

HEA No. 0008

Chapter No.:

16

Prime Sponsor:

Select Committee on Tribal Relations

Catch Title:

Tribal vehicle registration exemption implementation.

Subject:

Amending the process for obtaining and renewing the tribal vehicle registration exemption.

Summary/Major Elements:

Currently a tribal member who resides on the Wind River Reservation may obtain an exemption from vehicle registration fees. To obtain that exemption currently the tribal member must physically go to the county treasurer every year to file a sworn claim of eligibility for the exemption.

This act amends the process so that at the time of first registering the vehicle for which the owner qualifies for the exemption, the claimant files a sworn claim with the county treasurer. Subsequent renewals do not require the claimant to file a sworn claim with the treasurer.

The act specifies that if a claimant's status as a tribal member who lives on the Reservation changes, the claimant must notify the treasurer and pay the fees due according to the statutes and rules that apply to any other vehicle. The act requires a notice to be printed on a claimant's registration notifying the claimant of this requirement. The act provides for similar notice at the time of annual registration.

The above summary is not an official publication of the Wyoming Legislature and is not an official statement of legislative intent.

While the Legislative Service Office endeavored to provide accurate information in this summary, it should not be relied upon as a comprehensive abstract of the bill.

Current Bill Text

21LSO-0250

ORIGINAL House

Bill No
.
HB0025

ENROLLED ACT NO. 8,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2021 General Session

AN ACT relating to motor vehicles; amending the process for the tribal member vehicle registration fee exemption; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 31
‑
3
‑
101(b)(xiv) is amended to read:

31
‑
3
‑
101.

Registration fees; exemptions.

(b)

The fees prescribed by subsection (a) of this section are modified for owners of the following vehicles:

(xiv)

From and after January 1, 1993, vehicles owned and primarily operated by an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho Indian tribe who resides within the exterior boundaries of the state of Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation or on other Indian country as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1151 are exempt from fees provided by paragraph (a)(i) of this section.
In order
T
o receive the exemption,
at the time of first registering the vehicle for which the owner qualifies for the exemption under this paragraph,
the claimant shall file a sworn claim with the county treasurer
at the time of

registration
indicating the claimant's right to the exemption.
If the claimant ceases to be an enrolled tribal member or ceases to reside within an area under this paragraph that creates the claimant's right to the exemption under this paragraph, the claimant shall pay fees as required under paragraph (a)(i) of this section beginning when the vehicle's annual registration is next due following the change in eligibility.
County treasurers shall file notice of the exemptions granted and revenue lost and may be reimbursed by the state treasurer for all or a portion of revenue lost from funds appropriated for
that purpose, in the same manner and subject to the same time limitation as provided for veteran exemptions under W.S. 39
‑
13
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102(k). The department, in consultation with the state treasurer, shall prescribe forms and procedures necessary to implement this paragraph
. A vehicle registration issued under this paragraph shall indicate that the claimant received the exemption and shall include the text, "IF A CLAIMANT'S ELIGIBILITY FOR THIS TRIBAL MEMBER RESIDENTIAL EXEMPTION CHANGES, THE CLAIMANT SHALL NOTIFY THE COUNTY TREASURER WITHIN SIXTY (60) DAYS OF THE CHANGE." When an annual registration for a vehicle registered under this section is due to be renewed the county treasurer shall notify a claimant of the duty to inform the county treasurer if the claimant is no longer eligible for this exemption
;

Section 2
.

This act is effective July 1, 2021
.

(END)

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