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H 8614Veterans & Military

Motor and Other Vehicles - Registration Fees

This bill allows a disabled veteran's spouse to use "Disabled Veteran" license plates if the veteran cannot drive.

Signed into law71 Yea0 Nay4 Not voting
Population
Affected
8
Email Legislator
Introduced Jun 4, 2026Committee House Veterans` Affairs

Plain-English Summary

This bill amends the law regarding motor vehicle registration for disabled veterans. Currently, eligible disabled veterans receive free vehicle registration and special "Disabled Veteran" license plates, which can transfer to a surviving spouse after the veteran's death. This bill allows the special plates to be transferred to the veteran's spouse during the veteran's lifetime if the veteran is certified as no longer able to operate a motor vehicle.

For younger readers

Right now, military veterans who were badly hurt can get special license plates for their cars for free. If the veteran passes away, their husband or wife can keep using the special plates. This new bill changes the rules so that if the hurt veteran is still alive but can't drive anymore, they can give those special license plates to their husband or wife to use instead.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Disabled veteransSpouses of disabled veteransDivision of Motor Vehicles
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Expands government assistance and social safety net benefits for disabled individuals and their families by ensuring they retain transportation benefits even when the veteran can no longer drive.
  • Provides direct support to the caregivers and spouses of disabled veterans by transferring the registration benefit to them, easing financial and logistical burdens for the household.
  • Promotes equity by addressing a loophole where households with living but non-driving disabled veterans previously lost out on the practical use of their earned vehicle benefits.
  • Deprives the state of potential vehicle registration revenue that could otherwise be used to fund broader public services and infrastructure benefiting the entire community.
  • Prioritizes a specific group (military veterans) for government subsidies over other severely disabled citizens who may also be unable to drive and have spouses acting as caregivers.
  • Fails to address broader systemic issues regarding accessible public transportation for disabled individuals who can no longer drive, focusing instead on subsidizing private vehicle ownership.
For Conservatives
  • Honors and supports military veterans by expanding the flexibility of the benefits they earned through their service and sacrifice to the country.
  • Strengthens the traditional family unit by providing tangible support and financial relief to spouses who act as caregivers for their disabled veteran partners.
  • Reduces restrictive bureaucratic rules by allowing families to decide how best to utilize the veteran's earned license plate benefit when the veteran can no longer drive.
  • Expands a government assistance and waiver program, which effectively shifts the financial burden of vehicle registration fees onto other taxpayers.
  • Creates new administrative burdens for the division of motor vehicles, which must now process and verify medical certifications that a living veteran can no longer drive.
  • Extends a special tax benefit to an individual (the spouse) who did not personally earn the military-based qualification, conflicting with principles of strict individual merit.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 10 additions · 3 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 31-6-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-6 entitled "Registration Fees" is hereby amended to read as follows: 31-6-8. Disabled veterans.

(a) Any veteran who has been honorably discharged from the service of the armed forces or the Merchant Marine of the United States in any of the wars or campaigns in which the United States has been engaged and who, while engaged in these wars or campaigns or as a result of engagement in these wars or campaigns, by reason of amputation, has lost one or both of the veteran’s arms, hands, feet, or legs, or who, by reason of other permanent injury, has lost the use of one or both of the veteran’s arms, hands, feet, or legs, or to whom has been granted a motor vehicle under chapter 870-2D, United States Public Laws 663, enacted 1946, 79th Congress, or has suitable documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to establish that the veteran:

(1) Has a combined service connected disability rating of one hundred percent (100%); or

(2) Is considered “individually unemployable” due to the veteran’s service-connected disability, shall be exempt from the payment of any fee for the annual registration of and a license to operate that motor vehicle.

(b) The administrator for the division of motor vehicles shall issue to an eligible veteran for use on an automobile, or on a commercial vehicle having a gross weight of twelve thousand pounds (12,000 lbs.) or less, registration plates designated “Disabled Veteran.” Provided that:

(1) Upon certification that the veteran is no longer able to operate a vehicle, the "Disabled Veteran" plates may be transferred, during their lifetime, to the veteran's spouse; and

(2) Upon the death of the holder initial registrant of the “Disabled Veteran” plates, the plates may be transferred to the veteran’s surviving spouse for the spouse’s lifetime or until the spouse remarries. Only one set of

(3) “Disabled Veteran” plates shall be issued to an eligible veteran and or their spouse as provided for in subsection (b)(1) of this section only after certification of eligibility from the Veterans’ Administration or other satisfactory documentation of eligibility is presented.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.