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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6724
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5724
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AND MILITARY
AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT CREATING A SPECIAL MOTOR VEHICLE NUMBER PLATE
IN RECOGNITION OF "THE BORINQUENEERS".
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2026) (a) On and after January 1, 1
2026, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall issue commemorative 2
number plates in recognition of the primarily Puerto Rican members of 3
the Sixty-Fifth Infantry Regiment of the United States Army who served 4
with distinction and were known as "The Borinqueneers". The design of 5
the number plates shall be determined by the Commissioner of Motor 6
Vehicles in consultation with Hispanic-American Veterans of 7
Connecticut, Inc. No use shall be made of such plates, except as official 8
registration marker plates. 9
(b) A fee of sixty dollars shall be charged for "The Borinqueneers" 10
commemorative number plates, in addition to the regular fee or fees 11
prescribed for the registration of a motor vehicle. Fifteen dollars of such 12
fee shall be deposited in an account controlled by the Department of 13
Motor Vehicles to be used for the cost of producing, issuing, renewing 14 Committee Bill No. 6724
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and replacing such number plates, and forty-five dollars of such fee 15
shall be deposited in an account to be used by Hispanic-American 16
Veterans of Connecticut, Inc. for the purposes of subsection (c) of this 17
section. No additional fee shall be charged in connection with the 18
renewal of such number plates. No transfer fee shall be charged for the 19
transfer of an existing registration to or from a registration with "The 20
Borinqueneers" commemorative number plates. Such number plates 21
shall have letters and numbers selected by the Commissioner of Motor 22
Vehicles. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may establish a higher 23
fee for number plates: (1) Which contain the numbers and letters from a 24
previously issued number plate; (2) which contain letters in place of 25
numbers, as authorized by section 14-49 of the general statutes, in 26
addition to the fee or fees prescribed for registration under said section; 27
and (3) which are low number plates, issued in accordance with section 28
14-160 of the general statutes, in addition to the fee or fees prescribed 29
for registration under said section. All fees established and collected 30
pursuant to this section, except the amount deposited in the account 31
controlled by the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall be deposited in 32
the "Hispanic-American Veterans of Connecticut" commemorative 33
account, established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. The 34
Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may adopt regulations, in accordance 35
with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to establish 36
standards and procedures for the issuance, renewal and replacement of 37
"The Borinqueneers" commemorative number plates. 38
(c) There is established the "Hispanic-American Veterans of 39
Connecticut" commemorative account which shall be a separate, 40
nonlapsing account within the General Fund. The account shall contain 41
any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account. The funds 42
in said account shall be used by Hispanic-American Veterans of 43
Connecticut, Inc. to provide bilingual services and assistance to 44
Connecticut veterans and members of the armed forces. Hispanic-45
American Veterans of Connecticut, Inc. may receive private donations 46
to said account and any such donations shall be deposited in said 47
account. 48 Committee Bill No. 6724
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(d) The funds in the account shall be distributed quarterly by the 49
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to Hispanic-American 50
Veterans of Connecticut, Inc. 51
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2026 New section
VA Joint Favorable