H.B. 56 Vehicle Registration Amendments

What this bill does

H.B. 56 would let a vehicle owner who sells or trades in a vehicle cancel the registration online and get a prorated refund for the unused months, minus a $5 fee. Refunds would not be given when the amount is under $40, and the bill adds a $100 fine for driving a vehicle canceled on purpose.

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Every vote

• 10 yes, 0 no, 1 absentHouse Revenue and Taxation Committee: vote to change the bill · Jan 26, 2026Who voted how
• 10 yes, 0 no, 1 absentHouse Revenue and Taxation Committee: vote to approve it · Jan 26, 2026Who voted how
• 69 yes, 0 no, 6 absentFinal House vote · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how
• 5 yes, 0 no, 2 absentSenate Revenue and Taxation Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 17, 2026Who voted how
• 19 yes, 4 no, 6 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Feb 19, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Jan 26, 2026 House Revenue and Taxation Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (41 turns)

  1. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)40:14

     That passes. Okay. We've got four items on the agenda today. The first one we will hear is, um, house Bill 56 vehicle registration amendments. It looks like first substitute correct. Representative Hall. Okay. So Representative Hall, the time is yours for your presentation.

  2. Rep. Katy Hall40:39

     Can you hear me? Yeah. Is that, there we go. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thanks. Um, Mr. Chair and thank you committee. Um, yes, I will be speaking to the first substitute that's online. Um, not a big change on the first substitute, but I'll speak to that in just a second. So, vehicle registration amendments. I've tried to get this passed, uh, for a couple years now. Um, this, this time we made a few adjustments to see if we could adjust the fiscal note a little bit. Um, basically what it is, is if you register your car, you register for a full year. If you sell your car after two months, the state keeps that money we're, we keep that money and then the next person registers their car for another year. So we're double collecting for 10 months of that time. So basically this would say if you sell your car, you can go online, fill out the, the refund, um, thing that they will do, and then you'll get that refund back minus a $5 fee. Um, it also, in this bill, we say if it's under $40, then, then you wouldn't even, um, you wouldn't be able to apply for that refund. Um, and then the, the one thing that this, the sub changes is that we're asking for data. So we're gonna ask for data. This would be implemented next January. So we're asking for data from January to June for that six month time period to be reported to interim, and then again, the next year for the entire fiscal year to see how many people this really hits. As you'll see, the fiscal note is really high. And my postulation is that when they do the fiscal note, when I'm talking to the analyst, they say their, their, their data is from saying that 75% of the people will do this. And I just, I don't think that there will be that many people. So I really don't think the fiscal note is as high as it's portrayed on here. And I think, um, that hopefully that data will show that, but at least we'll be collecting the data and be able to see. And then if it's, if it's hitting really hard, then, then we can make adjustments after that. But let's collect the data and see, and let's stop double taxing people for their cars. So that's basically the bill. That's my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Oh, and wait, one more thing. Sorry. I've handed out a thing, a paper, and you'll see that all of the surrounding states around Utah have some sort of a refund or transfer, um, registra of registration, um, fees. And so I'd like to join our neighboring states and do something. So thank you.

  3. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)43:09

     Perfect. Thank you, representative. Do we have any clarifying questions from the committee? Because I I do have one.

  4. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)43:17speaker not certain

     So would, would the, would the amount, um, refunded, let's say a person takes the registration, they cancel the registration, could they transfer it to another registration? Or is it strictly just a refund? Or could it be transferred?

  5. Rep. Katy Hall43:30

     Um, in talking to the tax commission, and if they're here, they, they, they're more than welcome to speak on it if I don't answer this correctly. But in talking with them, it's easier just to do the refund and then they can apply it to their own new car, however, um, but that would be the easier way. And if people don't apply for the refund, then the state gets to keep their money. They're not applying for the refund. We'll keep it and use it where, where it's needed, but it ha it's a proactive thing. It has to be you going out to, to want your refund.

  6. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)43:57

     Perfect. I'll, I'll hold my other questions and let the other committee members, um, representative, I believe Kyle, so you're okay.

  7. Rep. Jason B. Kyle44:06

     Yeah. Thank you. I, I, I appreciate this, this bill. I feel like there's a lot of double taxation going on with, with how we do things now. And I, yeah, I just wanted to say that again on record that I support it and I think it's, it's good policy and, um, yeah, I think it'll actually help a lot of people out as well as, as they're struggling. If I, I know that transportation can be expensive for some people, and I think it, it'll, you know, a a hundred dollars here, a hundred dollars there, we might help some people out. So, thanks.

  8. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)44:35

     Thank you, representative. Next is Representative Christofferson.

  9. Rep. Kay J. Christofferson44:41

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, just a question on the fee is, will that cover the administration, all of the administration costs for this part of it?

  10. Rep. Katy Hall44:51

      Um, for the administering the refunds? Yeah. Yeah, they said that $5 fee would cover it And that'll cover it. And so the rest of that's just the fact that they're receiving less, uh, taxes.

  11. Rep. Kay J. Christofferson45:01

      Yep. Okay. Thanks.

  12. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)45:03

      Okay, next we've got Representative Strong.

  13. Rep. Mark A. Strong45:07

      Thank you. Um, so what is, what is the, I was trying to find it. Is there like a point of no return, you go a certain point where they say, or is it a percentage of, so if I say a cancel of 11 months,

  14. Rep. Katy Hall45:22

      My guess is that would be less than the $50 if I may, Mr. Chair, I think the, my guess is that would be already under the $40 limit. So it's, it's basically, if it's gonna be less than $40 of a refund, then you wouldn't apply for it. So for some, some cars it just depends. It might be 10 months, it might be nine months, it might be,

  15. Rep. Mark A. Strong45:45

      You know, I, I, okay. I I didn't get the part about the minimum. Yeah, sorry.

  16. Rep. Katy Hall45:50

      Okay. So if it's under that minimum, then don't do it. Yeah.

  17. Rep. Mark A. Strong45:54

      Okay, sounds good. Thanks.

  18. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)45:57

      Perfect. Thank you. Uh, follow up question on that.

  19. Unknown speaker46:01speaker not certain

      Is the messaging, is there going to be something on the registration, the e like, like I'm, I'm opted into the email version. Mm-hmm. Will there be something on the registration itself that says, um, anything about this that, that if you decide to cancel the registration, there would be a refund available to you? Or how does, how is the public made aware of this?

  20. Rep. Katy Hall46:20

      Do you know? That's A good question. I don't think, I'm not sure we addressed that in the bill, but I'm happy to, um, we could, we could definitely add something in that says this needs to be put on the, the registration card or, um, on the website. Right now, it's, I've gotten lots and lots of emails just from people who've seen the news stories and, and saying, when can I get my refund? Because we passed it outta the house unanimously last year, and, and then it didn't pass in the Senate. So it's, uh, people, so there's some people that think it still passed, so. Gotcha.

  21. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)46:54

      Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Uh, I don't see any more lights in terms of questions from the, uh, from the committee unless Representative Daley Provo wants to ask a question about the bill. She will a little bit later, I'm sure. Um, let's go to the public, anybody here from the tax commission, um, that could help maybe shed light on a couple of these things or anybody else from the public that would like to, to discuss this. And please, again, as a reminder for anybody here visiting from the public, when you do come up, please state your name, who you are, if you're representing anybody, uh, disclose that. And then also we'll need you to sign the, um, the attendance. Is it an attendance role, I guess is what it's called? And I, and I failed to mention, we do have, uh, chair, Stevie listen online. He is online with us today. So, um, go ahead, please.

  22. Jason Gardner, Deputy Executive Director, Tax Commission47:40

      Jason Gardner, deputy Executive Director of the Tax Commission. Um, to answer the question about advertising, we're happy to, we would put this on our website regardless. You can put it in the bill. It's fine. We'll do it anyway, just because people will ask about it and it avoids phone calls if we have a place where it's readily, the information's readily available. Um, were there any other questions that you wanted Me to Answer? The, the $5 fee being Oh, for the administrative Costs? Absolutely. Yeah. The, the $5 fee will go into the, from the fund that we would use to administer it. So as far as the, the administrative costs, there wouldn't be any administrative costs on this Bill. Other than that.

  23. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)48:14

      Perfect. Thank you.

  24. Leif Elder, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, UDOT48:19

      Lay, looks like you're up Lay Felder u Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, um, stayed up front. No concerns with the policy of the bill. It's just the budget piece that gives us some pause. It has $11 million fiscal note, I would agree with, with the sponsor of the bill. We don't know what the fiscal note will actually be. I appreciate the desire to do the reporting, and so that's, that's good. But it is concerning, I mean, $11 million or whatever it is, is, is concerning. And, and so that's policy. No, no concerns about that. Uh, we're, we're definitely neutral on that, so thanks.

  25. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)49:05

      Thank you. Anybody else here from the public? All right. And there's nobody online either. Oh wait, we do have, uh, one other comment or question from, no. Okay. Yeah, so we, yeah, we will go ahead and move to committee action at this point. Um, Representative Strong.

  26. Rep. Mark A. Strong49:29

      Yeah. I move that we pass out HP 56 with a Favorable first. We need to adopt the sub first, The first substitute.

  27. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)49:38

      Mm-hmm. Okay. Move that we adopt first substitute of HB 56. Okay. That, uh, is in order. We wanna go to the bill, uh, bill sponsor. Is that right? Yeah, go to the bill sponsor to that.

  28. Rep. Katy Hall49:51

      That would be great if you'd adopt the sub.

  29. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)49:53

      Perfect. Uh, any comments about that from the committee? Back to the maker of the motion waive? Okay. So the, uh, motion before us is to adopt substitute number one for house bill 56, um, vehicle registration amendments. All in favor say aye. Aye. Are there, aye. Are there any opposed? Kay, the bill is substituted now. Any further? Your light still on.

  30. Rep. Mark A. Strong50:19

      Would you like to take that? Yeah, Move that we pass out HB 56 sub first substitute with a favorable recommendation. Okay.

  31. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)50:27

      That is in order. Um, go to the, the bill sponsor.

  32. Rep. Katy Hall50:31

      Thank you. I'd appreciate that. I'm, I'm grateful for you guys looking at this bill again. And, and I think some of the, like I said, I think some of the data collection is gonna be really valuable, so thank you.

  33. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)50:41

      Okay. We'll go back to the committee for comment. So, representative Wynn,

  34. Unknown speaker50:45speaker not certain

      Just a point of clarification. Where is the $11 million fiscal note? We're looking at it. We don't see 11 million.

  35. Unknown speaker50:56speaker not certain

      Mr. Chair, if I may. Yeah, please. I, I think he might be talking about, um, part of that is for the state, and then there's part that's for the cities, that's the city. So it's kind of, it's double.

  36. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)51:10speaker not certain

      Does that answer that? Okay. Thank you.

  37. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)51:12

      Okay, perfect. Okay. Back to the committee for comment on the motion to pass with a favorable recommendation. Substitute one for HB 56 K back to the maker of the motion. Yeah, The microphone's off.

  38. Rep. Mark A. Strong51:30

      Yeah. Thanks. You know, this is a great bill. Even this year, and especially this year, and last year was great too. I've got this piece of trash van and it's, the kids have all driven it and the it, the registration expires next month. And I was like, yeah, Cindy, do we register that again? 'cause I got a daughter that's gonna drive it for just a month or two, and then we're gonna donate it to kidney cars or, or drive it off a cliff or something. We don't know yet. And, uh, we'll, we'll put it to good use. But anyway, I'm like, Hey, I forgot about this. So I'm really excited about this and I hope, I hope we can get the Senate to move it through for us.

  39. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)52:15

      Okay. Very good. Thank you, Representative Strong. So we, um, have a motion to pass then with a favorable recommendation substitute number one on house bill 56, vehicle registration amendments. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Rule that that passes out favorably.

  40. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)52:34

      Thank you, Representative Hall. Appreciate your presentation.

  41. Committee chair (Rep. Steve Eliason)52:39

      Is Representative Teuscher in the room? Okay. So is he close or, because we can move to, uh, oh, just to let you know, by the way, we are going to move agenda number. I, uh, number two to the end of the agenda. 'cause Representative Maloy is, uh, rep, uh, presenting another bill in another committee. So we were gonna move, uh, Representative Teuscher number three up, but if he's not here, is Representative MacPherson here. Okay. So, and nor is Representative Maloy. So I guess we will saunter for just a few minutes. So this is the time to check your phones, right? Okay, very good. We'll, we'll take a pause. Okay. The right one there. Huh? We will go ahead and cease to s santer. Representative MacPherson has decided to be the first one here. So we're gonna, we're gonna reward you

• Feb 5, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (3 turns)

  1. Madam Reading Clerk26:14

     Madam Reading Clerk For substitute house bill 56. Vehicle registration amendments by Representative Hall. This bill was heard in revenue and taxation with vote 10 0 1 Representative

  2. Rep. Thomas W. Peterson26:27speaker not certain

     Peterson. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to circle i Motion is order go in place in the motion.

  3. Speaker (presiding)26:32

     The motion before the house circle first substitute HP 56. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Rule that motion passes. The bill's been circled.

• Feb 6, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (19 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)30:47

     The motion before us the house encircle first substitute HP 56. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Rule that motion passes The bill's been encircled and before the body for consideration Representative Hall.

  2. Rep. Katy Hall31:01

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, HP 56 is vehicle registration amendments. This bill would allow an individual to cancel their registration, their car registration online and receive a prorated refund for any unused months of registration fees. Um, with a minimum refund of it has to be at least $40. So what this would do is if you say you register your car in February this month and in two months you sell your car to another uan, they register your car and you have to register a new car. The state has then collected 10 months of extra registration on the same car that you have already registered. So basically this would say you could go in online, show that you've sold your car, and then you'd receive a, a refund in the mail for your unused months. Those 10 unused months. Um, this would, they would also take just a little $5 fee from that refund if you do that just to pay for mailing and administrative costs. Uh, the there is also in the bill, new new this year in the bill is a hundred dollars penalty if people are doing this in bad faith and they get caught with a, with a registration that they have canceled. Um, I I think it's important to note that all of our surrounding states have some sort of a registration or refund process for their car registration fees. And I think it's Time Utah joined them. And with that, that's my summary on the bill.

  3. Speaker (presiding)32:33

     Thank you. Representative Hall discussion to the bill. Representative Thurston.

  4. Rep. Norman K Thurston32:37

     Thank you Mr. Speaker with the sponsor yield? Yes. Representative Hall, will you yield?

  5. Rep. Katy Hall32:41

     Yes. Representative Thurston?

  6. Rep. Norman K Thurston32:42

     Yes. So I just want to make sure that I'm clear on how this works. So the refund goes to the seller of the vehicle for months that they paid for but did not get to use that. Is that correct?

  7. Rep. Katy Hall32:53

     Yes. Yes. Mr. Speaker. That is right.

  8. Rep. Norman K Thurston32:56

     Okay. And then if the buyer of the vehicle turned around and sold it again two months later, they could also re apply for the months that they didn't get to use. Is that, is that also correct Mr. Speaker?

  9. Rep. Katy Hall33:07

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes, that is correct.

  10. Rep. Norman K Thurston33:10

      'cause then we would also, the next person who bought that car would also be registering again. So sometimes we can get up to, you know, three or four people down the line that have paid double on certain months throughout the year.

  11. Rep. Katy Hall33:24

      Thank you Mr. Speaker. That's true.

  12. Rep. Norman K Thurston33:26

      When we had looked at data on this, I was surprised to see that there are cars in our state that trade hands as many as four or five times a year in a 12 month period. And that means we are collecting more in revenue than we were really supposed to collect if we were being equitable on the value of the property. So one of our fundamental tenants of property tax is that similarly situated properties should be taxed similarly. And we have some cars that are paying five times or they're contributing five times to what other cars are contributing and it's not fair. So I really do appreciate the sponsor for bringing this forward and helping to correct this problem.

  13. Speaker (presiding)34:02

      Thank you. Thank you representatives. Thank you Representative Thurston, Representative Hansen.

  14. Rep. Leah Hansen34:12

      Um, thank you Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to rise in support of this bill. I, however, would still like to keep that $5. Thank you.

  15. Speaker (presiding)34:20

      Thank you Representative Hansen back to your of Hall for summation.

  16. Rep. Katy Hall34:25

      Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, I think this is really good tax policy and um, it's again, like I said, it's time that we joined our surrounding states so that people don't go to other states to register their cars. Um, 'cause that we also have heard that as an issue. So thank you. I appreciate your support on this.

  17. Speaker (presiding)34:44

      Representative Hall Voting will now be open on first substitute HB 56 Representative Lisonbee, would you like to vote?

  18. Rep. Lisa Lisonbee36:28speaker not certain

      See you now present. Having voted voting is now closed.

  19. Speaker (presiding)36:30

      First substitute HB 56 passes this body with 69 yes votes zero, no votes will be sent to the Senate, uh, for its consideration. Let's go to Representative Brooks.

• Feb 17, 2026 Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (21 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)1:56:22

     look at House Bill 56 for substitute, uh, vehicle registration amendments by Representative Hall.

  2. Rep. Katy Hall1:56:35

     Thank you, Mr. Chair and Committee. Uh, thank you for having me on this. Um, so this bill, what it would do is allow an individual to cancel their registration online and pro and receive a prorated refund for unused months of registration fees, uniform fees, um, et cetera. Um, there would have to be at least a minimum of $40, um, before they could do that. The DMV would also retain $5 of that to help pay for the, the administrative costs, the mailing and the, and the, um, the actual implementation. Um,

  3. Unknown speaker1:57:13speaker not certain

     Do you mean the tax commission?

  4. Rep. Katy Hall1:57:14

     Pardon? Do I mean the, the tech tax Commission, right? Yes. Yeah. Tax, sorry. Tax commission. Mm-hmm. Yes. Um, for the tax commission, uh, and it asks for, the other thing it does is ask for actual data amounts, um, to kind of track. So for the first six months that'll be in place, it asks for kind of some data of, you know, how many people are actually getting these refunds, how much is it actually costing the transportation fund. Um, just to make sure, you know, I know this has a big fiscal note, we don't wanna hit the transportation fund too much. Is there something we would need to adjust? Um, so while anyone can go online to, to cancel their vehicle registration, it bill, the bill doesn't make any changes on the requirement to register their vehicle. Um, and then additionally in this, we add that operating a vehicle, if you, if you canceled it on purpose and then then kept driving, um, you would get an additional a hundred dollars fine. Um, I think it's important to note that all of our states, border states have either a refund or transfer policy on their car registrations. Um, I think it would be good if we joined them, um, again, so what this would do is if you have registered your car for a full year, say you register in January, you sell your car two months later, uh, the, you lose out on those 10 months, you buy another car, you're paying for another one, and the person who got your car is now paying for another year. So there's 10 months where we're collecting double fees. So this just gives the opportunity for someone who is selling their car to get those funds that they didn't use for the months they didn't use back in a refund check. So that's the bill. Um, happy to answer any questions. I know we've been looking at some different options, um, of possibly making that fiscal note lower. I'm still willing to look at options as we go, but that's the bill. I'm happy to questions.

  5. Committee chair (presiding)1:59:16

     Okay. That concludes your presentation. I'll bring it back to the committee for questions on the bill. Seeing none, uh, online.

  6. Unknown speaker1:59:29speaker not certain

     Um, representative, can I ask you, have you communicated to udot which project you don't want funded in your area for those amounts? Just, just curious if you've communicated that or if that's just Yeah. Hidden.

  7. Rep. Katy Hall1:59:40

     Yeah, it's, it's hidden.

  8. Committee chair (presiding)1:59:41

     Okay. No, it, it was good. Right? Yeah. Anyway, uh, the Udo director's laughing behind you, so at least he has, you know, some good spirits. It's a comment. So, so, um, okay. With that, uh, we'll bring it to the public for public comment. Please come forward and tell her what project you're not going to build as a result. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding.

  9. Carlos Braceras, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation2:00:10

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, Carlos Persis, Utah, department of Transportation. I was just gonna not weigh in at all on policy here. I want to just maybe put the numbers in context. So the, um, tax commission came up with the fiscal note, um, and I just talked to 'em earlier today to figure out how they came up with that. It was interesting, but they actually do feel pretty good about the data. So it's about $6 million that would hit the transportation fund. So to put that in context, um, we bring in about $700 million a year in fuel tax. That's both diesel and gas. And then we bring in about a 100 and 111 million in registration fees. And so this $6 million would be $6 million of less projects to recommend to the Transportation Commission. Um, normally what we do is we come outta session, we determine what decisions the legislature has made. We have a list of projects that we've worked on with all the regions. And you know, that's a, it's always a robust list, but it would be less. But I wanted to make sure that the $6 million was in context. Our state construction budget sits around $200 million is what you guys had last year put into the, uh, construction line item. That's where the projects come from. So it would be $6 million out of that 200 million in terms of less projects. So I just wanted you to understand that as you make your decision.

  10. Committee chair (presiding)2:01:35

      Okay. Um, appreciate that. Uh, just for everybody's benefit, that's 3%, give or take here or there. So, you know, uh, just a thing. Okay. Um, anyone else for public comment?

  11. Unknown speaker2:01:55speaker not certain

      Sorry, I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask you, uh, commissioner, uh, director, commissioner. See, we have got to uniform these things at the, at the cabinet level, so I can get straight. Which one's a commissioner, which one's a, a director?

  12. Carlos Braceras, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation2:02:09

      You can call me whatever you want. I usually do, but this time, you know, uh, it's, it's being recorded.

  13. Unknown speaker2:02:17speaker not certain

      Um, so, uh, is 3% is what you're, what you're saying is this is not a substantial impact to the transportation fund as it relates to the totality of circumstances

  14. Carlos Braceras, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation2:02:29

      In terms of numbers, yes. But in terms, as you mentioned, it, it is probably one to two less projects. I mean, this, this is, comes out of a project list we call Transportation Solutions, which are normally in the range of two to $4 million a piece, um, spread around the state. So it's, it's probably a couple projects a year.

  15. Unknown speaker2:02:48speaker not certain

      Okay. So, yeah. No, that's good to know. We'll, we'll let the representative help choose which ones are not funded. So I'll be, I'll be, give her the power, I guess. Okay.

  16. Committee chair (presiding)2:02:58

      Uh, any other public comment, seeing no more public comment, we'll bring it back to committee for action on the bill. Senator Brammer, I couldn't tell if your lie was blinking or not. There we go. Okay. Senator Escamilla.

  17. Sen. Luz Escamilla2:03:18

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Make a motion that we pass, um, as as, okay, sorry. HB 56 for substitute vehicle registration amendments. Okay. Is, that's in favor, that's in order. Do I speak to that?

  18. Sen. Luz Escamilla2:03:33

      Um, you know, I, I think it's always tricky when you're addressing, um, those budgets, but this is an issue of, of transparency and it, this is a big investment when people, you know, change vehicles, they're, they're gonna have to make all this to pay again. And if they just did the whole registration in their car, I mean, I, I've actually wonder about this. So I'm glad someone is addressing this. And it's also important too, so the community knows how much is the, those funds, right? I mean, we're, those funds are gonna be lost. I think it's 3% is manageable, but I, um, I recognize as, you know, we're losing part of on, on a budget. But it is fair to me, it's an initial fairness. And, you know, that almost feels like a little bit like a double-dipping situation here. So I, I think this will clarify and clear that process. It's, I think it's good policy.

  19. Committee chair (presiding)2:04:29

      Okay. Thank you very much. Representative. You wanna sum?

  20. Rep. Katy Hall2:04:32

      Yes, please. Thank you. Um, I appreciate that. I, I do think the policy is good. Um, and I, and I get that in the end it's a funding thing. Um, but I think it's, what's interesting to point out is $6 million is, um, we're double taxing people $6 million, um, in total. So I think that's very interesting. And when I've talked to the policy analysts, they said they took, they, they estimated that about 75% of car registration, car registrations would actually apply for this refund. Um, I don't think it would be that many. So I, I, I do think the fiscal note isn't quite that high, but that's why I kind of, that's why I put that piece in there where we evaluated after six months and see where we're at. If it's like way outta whack, let's make an adjustment. Um, but the, the bill does call for an evaluation of seeing is this exorbitant? Is this a deal breaker? Is this something, do we need to adjust the fees so that we're actually making the money that needs to be made to pay for projects? Um, but anyway, that, those are just some thoughts and I will appreciate, I would appreciate a, a forward vote and we can decide on those other things later. Thank you.

  21. Committee chair (presiding)2:05:49

      Okay. The motion before us is to pass first substitute house bill 56, uh, with a favor recommendation. Uh, and I will say this, the, the nice thing is, I think if you, when you start on this policy, three years ago, I think it was a $30 million fiscal note, if I remember right. That's crazy. Yeah. So, I, I, I mean, my congratulations to you to keep trying to find a way to bring this, you know, where, and so my hat's off to you for doing that. So the motion before us is to pass for substitute house bill 56 of the favorable recommendation. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Isn't that aye. Okay. Any opposed? Okay. Looks like that passes unanimously. And I think I have six total. Senator Wilson's online, right? He's not there anymore. He's not there. Okay. So five total. So passes five to zero. Congratulations, representative. Good job.

• Feb 19, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (13 turns)

  1. Sen. Daniel McCay49:50

     Um, first substitute House Bill 56. Vehicle registration Amendments is an attempt to try and restore, uh, two, um, people that register their vehicles and then subsequently sell their vehicle mid-year. Try and give them an opportunity to recapture some of that money that they have, um, uh, that they are trying to for their registration. So for example, you buy a new car in June, trade the old one in the new car, you pay full registration fees for when you pay full registration fees for that you've already paid for the entire year of registration through your other vehicle. So with House Bill 56, we're trying to find a way to return some of that money to people. It's not an entirety, but it's a good swipe at the option. I'm happy with that. Mr. Uh,

  2. President Pro Tem (presiding)50:36

     president pro tem to take questions. Thank you. Discussions to the bill. Senator Rebe.

  3. Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe50:43

     Thank you. Mr. President Pro Tem. Does this require a bill of sale? I couldn't see that on the bill. Senator McKay, will you yield?

  4. Sen. Daniel McCay50:51

     Yes. Okay, go ahead. Uh, the answer to that is no, it doesn't require it. Um, but I think that would be a friendly amendment if we wanted to require it.

  5. Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe51:01

     Thank you. Uh, I, I know that many people are cheating is word we used a lot in our committee, so I just wanna make sure that people that have a recreational vehicle wouldn't be canceling their registration halfway through the year to save that little bit of money. Do you think it would be, um, do you think this would capture that kind of nefarious activity if we added a bill of sale to it?

  6. Sen. Daniel McCay51:25

     Uh, it's, it's possible. It depends on how, uh, it depends on how we have it. Right now, the task commission is not require, does not require at, uh, at registration does not require a bill of sale. They require the signing of the title. Uh, and so, and that value that's on the back of that, um, on the back of that title is what's disclosed to the tax commission as to what the purchase price or the sales price of the, of the vehicle was. And so, you know, absent requiring a bill of sale, a transaction beyond that, in some ways if people are willing to cheat at that registration or on the back of a title, they will likely be willing to cheat on a bill of sale as well. So I'm, I'm not sure necessarily that it adds to it, but at the same time I do, I am against tax cheats.

  7. Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe52:16

     Thank you. Me too.

  8. President Pro Tem (presiding)52:19

     Thank you. Further discussion of the bill. Seeing none. Senator McKay back to you for motion or summation.

  9. Sen. Daniel McCay52:25

     Thank you. I will say that Abraham Lincoln once wisely said, you're not obligated to pay more tax than the government requires you to. So with that, uh, house Bill Fi first substitute house Bill 56 is a good step in that direction. Uh, and it also helps us, uh, move the ball forward at least in restoring some of this revenue. There's obviously a fiscal note to it that we'll have to uh, deal with in the funding process. Uh, but for now I think this is a good bill and for that reason I move that it be read for a third time.

  10. President Pro Tem (presiding)52:53

      And the question is, shall first substitute House Bill 56 be read for a third time. Roll call Vote. Senator Vickers Baldy. Aye. Lewin a brammer bus? Aye. Comore as Camia? Aye. Fillmore Grover Aye. Harper Aye. Hankins Aye. Ipson Aye. Johnson Wan McKay Mikel Milner a Musman Aye. Owens Aye. Pitcher Lum Re Sandal Stevenson Stratton. I have some changes. Stickers. Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton President Adams First substitute house bill 56 Having received 18 na votes. What's that? Oh, 19 It changed. Okay. Lemme recall that first substitute house bill 56 having received 19 yay votes four na votes six being absent will be read for third time. Senator Wilson. Thank

  11. Unknown speaker53:44speaker not certain

      I have some changes.

  12. Sen. Chris H. Wilson54:33

      You Mr. President Pro temp a motion that we table on third first substitute house bill 56 For physical impact.

  13. President Pro Tem (presiding)54:40

      All in favor of the motion to table on third say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All rule that passes.