MINUTES OF THE

      SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

 

      Sixty-seventh Session

      April 22, 1993

 

 

 

The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman William R. O'Donnell, at 1:40 p.m., on Thursday, April 22, 1993, in Room 226 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada.  Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda.  Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.

 

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman

Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen, Vice Chairman

Senator Mark A. James

Senator Leonard V. Nevin

Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr.

Senator Thomas J. Hickey

Senator Lori L. Brown

 

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Paul Mouritsen, Senior Research Analyst

Terri Jo Wittenberg, Committee Secretary

 

OTHERS PRESENT:

 

Raymond L. Sparks, Chief, Registration Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV)

Daryl E. Capurro, Lobbyist, Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association

Fred Harrell, Executive Director, Nevada Motorcycle Dealers Association

 

Chairman O'Donnell opened the hearing on Senate Bill (S.B.) 371.

 

S.B. 371:   Makes various changes relating to licensing and registration of motor vehicles.

 

Raymond L. Sparks, Chief, Registration Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV), went through the bill, section by section.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked if Mr. Sparks if he had any problem with the legislature passing a law which would automatically revoke a person's registration if they are not insured.

 

Mr. Sparks said the insurance verification program is very tough and that he, personally, did not have any problem with that.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said there was a big time lag between the time DMV gets notice that a person had dropped their insurance and the time it takes to revoke their registration.

 

Mr. Sparks said the delay is due to the fact that after the DMV gets the notice they send a letter to the individual named and give them a chance to show they have replaced their insurance.  He added, if they do not respond to the first letter, the DMV sends them a second letter.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked if the DMV would like to be able to require the insurance companies to provide the vehicle identification number (VIN) to them.

 

Mr. Sparks said that sounded like a good way to be able to tell who has insurance and who does not.  He said this would allow the DMV to check when someone's insurance is canceled or lapses and see if they have replaced that insurance policy.

 

Senator Nevin asked what happens when a person can prove he had insurance even when the DMV says his insurance had been canceled and then that person is fined the $50.  He asked why the DMV has no discretion in some of these cases.

 

Mr. Sparks said the statutes are very "black and white" and he added, there is no room for discretion in the suspension or the reinstatement policy of the DMV.  He said he had heard of a number of "horror stories" where people, through no fault of their own, had gotten caught up in this problem.  He said the DMV has its hands tied in these matters.  He gave some examples of those problems.

 

Senator Nevin said he had been working on an amendment to S.B 193 which would allow the DMV hearing officer some discretion.

 

S.B. 193:   Allows department of motor vehicles and public safety to establish more flexible requirements for reinstatement of drivers' licenses.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said he agreed with Senator Nevin and said there needs to be some discretionary process given to the DMV to take of "extenuating circumstances." 

 

Mr. Sparks suggested the language allow the DMV to waive suspension and if the individual disagrees, then a hearing officer should hear the case and make a decision accordingly.

 

Senator Nevin agreed with the suggestions made by Mr. Sparks.

 

Senator Jacobsen asked if a blind person who wished to register his vehicle had to sign the application.

 

Mr. Sparks said the application must be signed by the blind person.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked if DMV still throws away about half of the insurance verification letters since the DMV did not have the time to match them up.

 

Mr. Sparks said that was true.  He added, a significant part of the problem with matching these letters is the lack of an accurate or complete VIN.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked what the cost was to run the insurance verification program.

 

Mr. Sparks said the projected cost of the program was about $800,000 or $900,000 and the projected revenue was about $1.4 million.

 

Daryl E. Capurro, Lobbyist, Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association, spoke with regard to S.B. 371.  Mr. Capurro said he did have some concerns with respect to section 5.  He said the current practice does not allow for a refund of privilege tax fees, but the DMV does allow a credit.  Mr. Capurro said the section does say there will be no refund, but it does not say anything about a credit.  He said they need to mention the credit if they mention the non-refund policy.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said he also thinks these privilege taxes should be credited and/or refunded.  He said maybe there was a reason for not giving refunds.

 

Senator Neal said the record keeping would be difficult.

 

Mr. Capurro said the DMV currently applies a credit to another vehicle and so the DMV already has the bookkeeping system in place.

 

Senator Nevin said it would be a problem to set up a whole new checking account from which to issue these refund checks.

 

Mr. Capurro said maybe it could be set up so that if the refund is less than $20 it would not be refundable.

 

Senator Hickey asked how big a problem this is and where is the problem.

 

Mr. Capurro said because there is nothing in the law now, does this now mean there will no longer be a credit allowed.

 

 

Mr. Sparks said there is statutory authorization for a credit, but there is no statutory authorization for a refund.  He added, there is a provision to refund fees to commercial carriers.  He explained, probably the biggest obstacle would be the fiscal impact.  He said the fiscal impact would be to the local governments because these privilege taxes go directly to these local governments.

 

Senator Jacobsen asked if the refund would be prorated.

 

Mr. Sparks said the refund would be prorated in the same way a credit is handled.  He said the credit is based on the remaining time of the registration.

 

Fred Harrell, Executive Director, Nevada Motorcycle Dealers Association, spoke with regard to S.B. 371.  Mr. Harrell said he has been a victim of the problem of not refunding the unused privilege taxes.  Mr. Harrell said he had a motorcycle stolen recently and was given credit when he registered his new motorcycle.  He added, had he not gotten a new motorcycle he would not have gotten any of his registration fee back in any form.

 

Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on S.B. 371 and opened the work session on S.B. 190.

 

S.B. 190:   Provides that imposition of fine is discretionary under certain circumstances for driving without insurance.

 

The committee discussed the amendment to S.B. 190. 

 

Senator Neal asked why the minimum fine was taken out.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said the original bill took out the minimum fine.  He added, the amendment allows the judge to suspend the $1000 fine if the person proves he has insurance for the next 12 months.

 

Senator James said that making a person go into court every month for 12 months is an onerous burden.  He said the intent is not to "drag the person through the mud," but to make sure the insurance is in effect.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said the person could present the "evidence" of his insurance to the court in person or by mail.

 

Senator James said he supported the bill, except for the proof burden on people.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said he would hold the bill until he had a chance to speak with Senate Adler about the amendment.

 

 

Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on S.B. 190 and opened the work session on S.B. 193.

 

S.B. 193:   Allows department of motor vehicles and public safety to establish more flexible requirements for reinstatement of drivers' licenses.

 

Senator Nevin explained the proposed amendment.  He said the amendment had been approved by the DMV and by Senator Smith.  He said the amendment would give the DMV some discretionary powers under certain circumstances.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked for an example why someone had justifiable cause for failing to maintain liability insurance.

 

Senator Nevin said perhaps a person could give up their driver's license and could let their insurance lapse.  He suggested Mr. Sparks might be able to give a better example.

 

Mr. Sparks said some types of situations that have come to his attention have been situations such as; a person who has parked his car because it is not operable and he has let the insurance lapse or has canceled it, but he has not canceled his registration.  He said this person maintains that the vehicle has not been operated , but under existing law, the vehicle must be insured during the entire time that it is registered.  He said another situation would be where the policy holder says he has either paid his premium to his insurance agent and the agent has neglected to forward it in a timely manner or he has taken out a policy and was told it was effective on a certain date and through some error or omission on the part of the agent, the policy was not actually in effect when the owner thought it was.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked who would have the final say in these cases.  He asked if the DMV had the final say, if these cases would go to a hearing officer.

 

Mr. Sparks said the hearing officer would have the final say.

 

Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on S.B. 193.

 

      SENATOR NEVIN MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS S.B. 193.

 

      SENATOR HICKEY SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

      THE MOTION CARRIED.  (SENATOR NEAL VOTED NO.  SENATOR BROWN WAS ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)

 

      * * * * *

 

Chairman O'Donnell opened the work session on S.B. 126.

 

S.B. 126:   Makes various changes to laws pertaining to controls of emissions from motor vehicles.

 

Senator James explained the amendment.  He said the only thing not included on the amendment was the suggestion that a person could void a sale if proof of emission compliance was not provided.  He added, if both parties agree the vehicle is not operable, then the evidence of smog compliance would not be necessary.

 

Senator Jacobsen asked if the bill would impact the smaller counties who do not currently require smog certification.

 

Mr. Capurro said it would not change anything in the counties which do not require smog testing.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said he was concerned that unscrupulous dealers would go out and buy cars which would not pass a smog inspection, but the dealers could actually then sell them in an inoperable state.

 

Mr. Capurro said if they did sell these inoperable vehicles, they could not be registered until they could pass a smog inspection.

 

Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on S.B. 126 and opened the work session on Assembly Bill (A.B.) 56.

 

A.B. 56:    Increases penalty, under certain circumstances, for failing or refusing to stop vehicle when signaled by peace officer.

 

Paul Mouritsen, Senior Research Analyst, discussed the New Jersey law (Exhibit C) which was similar to A.B. 56.

 

Senator James said this was not a "rebuttable presumption," but was a "permission inference."  He said a "presumption requires the jury to find that that fact is, in fact the fact unless they have evidence to the contrary.  He explained that "permissive inference" simply allows the jury, if they wish, to find that something is the fact.

 

Senator Nevin said he still had a problem with the type of signal used.

 

Chairman O'Donnell suggested defining a patrol car.

 

Senator Nevin said that was already defined in section 1 and did not need to be defined again.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said the committee would hold the bill and discuss it at another date.

 

Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on A.B. 56.

 

There being no further business before the committee, Chairman O'Donnell adjourned the hearing at 3:45 p.m.

 

                                          RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

                                                                

                                             Terri Jo Wittenberg,

                                             Committee Secretary

 

 

 

APPROVED BY:

 

 

 

 

                                     

Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman

 

 

DATE:                                

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Senate Committee on Transportation

April 22, 1993

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