1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to transportation; exempting rescue vehicles 
  1.3             from registration tax and fees; including rescue 
  1.4             vehicles in definition of authorized emergency 
  1.5             vehicles; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 
  1.6             168.012, subdivision 1; and 169.01, subdivision 5. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 168.012, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  (a) The following vehicles are exempt from 
  1.11  the provisions of this chapter requiring payment of tax and 
  1.12  registration fees, except as provided in subdivision 1c:  
  1.13     (1) vehicles owned and used solely in the transaction of 
  1.14  official business by representatives of foreign powers, by the 
  1.15  federal government, the state, or any political subdivision; 
  1.16     (2) vehicles owned and used exclusively by educational 
  1.17  institutions and used solely in the transportation of pupils to 
  1.18  and from such institutions; 
  1.19     (3) vehicles used solely in driver education programs at 
  1.20  nonpublic high schools; 
  1.21     (4) vehicles owned by nonprofit charities and used 
  1.22  exclusively to transport disabled persons for educational 
  1.23  purposes; 
  1.24     (5) vehicles owned and used by honorary consul or consul 
  1.25  general of foreign governments; and 
  1.26     (6) ambulances owned by ambulance services licensed under 
  2.1   section 144.802, the general appearance of which is 
  2.2   unmistakable; and 
  2.3      (7) vehicles used solely for emergency rescue operations. 
  2.4      (b) Vehicles owned by the federal government, municipal 
  2.5   fire apparatus, police patrols and ambulances, the general 
  2.6   appearance of which is unmistakable, shall not be required to 
  2.7   register or display number plates.  
  2.8      (c) Unmarked vehicles used in general police work, liquor 
  2.9   investigations, arson investigations, and passenger automobiles, 
  2.10  pickup trucks, and buses owned or operated by the department of 
  2.11  corrections shall be registered and shall display appropriate 
  2.12  license number plates which shall be furnished by the registrar 
  2.13  at cost.  Original and renewal applications for these license 
  2.14  plates authorized for use in general police work and for use by 
  2.15  the department of corrections must be accompanied by a 
  2.16  certification signed by the appropriate chief of police if 
  2.17  issued to a police vehicle, the appropriate sheriff if issued to 
  2.18  a sheriff's vehicle, the commissioner of corrections if issued 
  2.19  to a department of corrections vehicle, or the appropriate 
  2.20  officer in charge if issued to a vehicle of any other law 
  2.21  enforcement agency.  The certification must be on a form 
  2.22  prescribed by the commissioner and state that the vehicle will 
  2.23  be used exclusively for a purpose authorized by this section.  
  2.24     (d) Unmarked vehicles used by the department of revenue in 
  2.25  conducting seizures or criminal investigations must be 
  2.26  registered and must display passenger vehicle classification 
  2.27  license number plates which shall be furnished at cost by the 
  2.28  registrar.  Original and renewal applications for these 
  2.29  passenger vehicle license plates must be accompanied by a 
  2.30  certification signed by the commissioner of revenue.  The 
  2.31  certification must be on a form prescribed by the commissioner 
  2.32  and state that the vehicles will be used exclusively for the 
  2.33  purposes authorized by this section. 
  2.34     (e) All other motor vehicles shall be registered and 
  2.35  display tax-exempt number plates which shall be furnished by the 
  2.36  registrar at cost, except as provided in subdivision 1c.  All 
  3.1   vehicles required to display tax-exempt number plates shall have 
  3.2   the name of the state department or political subdivision, or 
  3.3   the nonpublic high school operating a driver education program, 
  3.4   on the vehicle plainly displayed on both sides thereof in 
  3.5   letters not less than 2-1/2 inches high and one-half inch wide; 
  3.6   except that each state hospital and institution for the mentally 
  3.7   ill and mentally retarded may have one vehicle without the 
  3.8   required identification on the sides of the vehicle, and county 
  3.9   social service agencies may have vehicles used for child and 
  3.10  vulnerable adult protective services without the required 
  3.11  identification on the sides of the vehicle.  Such identification 
  3.12  shall be in a color giving contrast with that of the part of the 
  3.13  vehicle on which it is placed and shall endure throughout the 
  3.14  term of the registration.  The identification must not be on a 
  3.15  removable plate or placard and shall be kept clean and visible 
  3.16  at all times; except that a removable plate or placard may be 
  3.17  utilized on vehicles leased or loaned to a political subdivision 
  3.18  or to a nonpublic high school driver education program. 
  3.19     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.01, 
  3.20  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  3.21     Subd. 5.  [AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE.] "Authorized 
  3.22  emergency vehicle" means any of the following vehicles when 
  3.23  equipped and identified according to law:  (1) A vehicle of a 
  3.24  fire department; (2) a publicly owned police vehicle or a 
  3.25  privately owned vehicle used by a police officer for police work 
  3.26  under agreement, express or implied, with the local authority to 
  3.27  which the officer is responsible; (3) a vehicle of a licensed 
  3.28  land emergency ambulance service, whether publicly or privately 
  3.29  owned; (4) an emergency vehicle of a municipal department or a 
  3.30  public service corporation, approved by the commissioner of 
  3.31  public safety or the chief of police of a municipality; (5) any 
  3.32  volunteer rescue squad operating pursuant to Laws 1959, chapter 
  3.33  53; (6) a vehicle designated as an authorized emergency vehicle 
  3.34  upon a finding by the commissioner of public safety that 
  3.35  designation of that vehicle is necessary to the preservation of 
  3.36  life or property or to the execution of emergency governmental 
  4.1   functions; and (7) any publicly or privately owned vehicle used 
  4.2   for emergency rescue operations and conspicuously bearing the 
  4.3   word "RESCUE".