SB 2558: Motor Vehicles; State Registration Fee; Tall Vehicles; Surcharge; Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to transportation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that a recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study of nearly 18,000 pedestrian crashes concluded that vehicles having a hood height greater than forty inches are approximately forty-five per cent more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes when compared with cars and other vehicles with hood heights of thirty inches or less.  The legislature also finds that, in 2020, more than 42,000 people were killed and 4,800,000 seriously injured on United States roadways, an eight per cent increase from the year before.  The legislature further finds that recent consumer trends indicate increasing sales of larger vehicles, which poses a risk to pedestrians.  The legislature further finds that school areas are at particular risk of drivers of larger and taller vehicles being unable to see pedestrians.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish an annual vehicle registration surcharge for vehicles having a hood height greater than forty inches, for deposit into the safe routes to school program special fund.

     SECTION 2.  Section 249-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§249-31  State registration fee.  (a)  All vehicles and motor vehicles in the State as defined in section 249-1, including antique motor vehicles, except as otherwise provided in sections 249-4, 249-6, and 249‑31.5, shall be subject to a $46 annual vehicle registration fee; provided that [alternative]:

     (1)  Alternative fuel vehicles shall pay an annual vehicle registration surcharge of $50[, which]; and

     (2)  Vehicles having a hood height greater than forty inches shall pay an annual vehicle registration surcharge of $20 for each inch that the vehicle's hood height exceeds forty inches; provided that this paragraph shall not apply to buses, ambulances, or vehicles categorized by the Federal Highway Administration as class 5 or greater.

Annual vehicle registration surcharges shall be assessed and collected beginning with the first registration renewal for every [alternative fuel] vehicle [and shall be deposited into the state highway fund established under section 248-8.  The surcharge] subject to paragraphs (1) and (2).  Surcharges shall be paid each year together with all other taxes and fees levied by this chapter on a staggered basis as established by each county as authorized by section 286-51, and the state registration for that county shall likewise be staggered so that the state registration fee is due and payable at the same time and shall be collected together with the county fee.  The state registration fee shall be deemed delinquent if not paid with the county registration fee.  The respective counties shall collect this fee together with the vehicle registration tax collected for the county and shall transfer the moneys collected under this section to the State.

     For the purposes of this subsection, "alternative fuel vehicle" means a vehicle powered by a non-petroleum-based fuel, but excludes an electric vehicle as defined in section 249‑36(g).

     (b)  [In addition to the annual vehicle registration surcharge fee, for] Fees collected under this section shall be disposed of as follows:

     (1)  From each annual motor vehicle registration fee, the director shall deposit $40 into the state highway fund, $5 into the emergency medical services special fund, and $1 into the accessible parking special account[.];

     (2)  Annual vehicle registration surcharge fees collected pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall be deposited into the state highway fund established under section 248‑8; and

     (3)  Annual vehicle registration surcharge fees collected pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall be deposited into the safe routes to school program special fund established under section 291C-4."

     SECTION 3.  Section 291C-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§291C-4  Safe routes to school program special fund; establishment.  There is established in the state treasury the safe routes to school program special fund, into which shall be deposited:

     (1)  Vehicle registration surcharge fees collected pursuant to section 249-31;

    [(1)] (2)  Assessments collected for speeding in a school zone, pursuant to section 291C-104; and

    [(2)] (3)  Safe routes to school program surcharges collected in accordance with sections 291-16 and 291C‑5."

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

Report Title:

Motor Vehicles; State Registration Fee; Tall Vehicles; Surcharge; Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund

Description:

Establishes an annual vehicle registration surcharge for vehicles having a hood height greater than 40 inches for deposit into the safe routes to school program special fund.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.