SESSION WATCH
Superseded — its companion passed SENATE · SESSION 2026

No. SB 1352

Motor Vehicles
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SPONSOR
Trumbull
FILED BY
Jay Trumbull — District 2, Republican [search donations]
EFFECTIVE
7/1/2026
COMPANION
SB 488 — SB 1352 was set aside and its companion carried the policy

Filed under Transportation.

PROVIDED SUMMARY

Motor Vehicles; Requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to establish and maintain a secure online license and registration portal for verifying, recording, and processing the seizure or confiscation of license plates; providing that a disabled veteran may retain a certain license plate designation upon reissuance, renewal, or transfer of the plate; prohibiting a person from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, or affixing to any registration license plate certain covers, films, or overlays that obscure or alter the registration license plate in a specified manner, etc.

Full bill text →

Plain English Summary

AI-GENERATED
Bans license plate covers that obscure or alter their legibility.

Manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, or attaching a cover, film, or overlay that obscures or alters a license plate's legibility, color, or design becomes illegal, regardless of whether the material is transparent, tinted, or opaque.

A new secure online portal will let DHSMV, tax collectors, and authorized law enforcement agencies verify, record, and process license plate seizures and confiscations, checked before any plate is reissued.

Tax collectors gain new duties: they can now take disabled-parking plate applications and issue plates immediately on demand, and must fulfill driver license and ID renewals ordered through the online portal, earning a service fee for doing so.

Disabled veterans can keep their plate's unique alphanumeric designation when they renew, reissue, or transfer it to another vehicle they own, and can now choose "DV" letters instead of, or alongside, the wheelchair symbol.

KEY PROVISIONS
§ 1 New DHSMV portal must verify plate seizures before reissuance majors. 320.06

AIDHSMV must build and maintain a secure online portal that tax collectors and law enforcement use to verify, record, and process license plate seizures or confiscations, with immediate status updates, and any reissuance of a plate must be checked against it first.

“for the purpose of verifying, recording, and processing the seizure or confiscation of license plates” bill text, line 42 →
§ 2 Bans covers or films that obscure or alter license plates majors. 320.26

AIIt becomes illegal to manufacture, sell, offer for sale, or attach any cover, film, or overlay to a license plate if it obscures or alters the plate's legibility, color, or design, whether the material is transparent, tinted, or opaque.

“which obscures or alters the legibility, color, or design of the registration license plate” bill text, line 115 →
§ 3 Tax collectors must fulfill driver license orders placed online moderates. 322.21

AIRenewal or replacement driver licenses and ID cards ordered through the department's online portal must be fulfilled by the applicant's county tax collector, who may mail the card or let the applicant pick it up, and the department must pay that tax collector a service fee for each one.

“shall be fulfilled by the tax collector of the county in which the applicant resides” bill text, line 124 →
§ 4 Tax collectors can now issue disabled-parking plates on demand moderates. 320.0843

AIApplications for disabled-parking license plates may now go to a tax collector instead of only the department, and the tax collector may issue the plate immediately on demand. Applicants may also choose a wheelchair symbol or "DV" letters, and may add either mark in addition to, rather than only instead of, the plate's serial number.

“such license plates may be issued immediately on demand by the tax collector, subject to rules of the department” bill text, line 96 →
§ 5 Disabled veterans keep their plate's ID number across renewals moderates. 320.084

AIA disabled veteran who holds a permanent disabled-veteran license plate may keep that plate's unique alphanumeric designation when the plate is reissued, renewed, or transferred to another vehicle the veteran owns.

“may retain the unique alphanumeric designation assigned to the plate upon reissuance, renewal, or transfer of the plate” bill text, line 62 →
TIMELINE
3/13/2026
Died in Fiscal Policy, companion bill(s) passed, see SB 488 (Ch. 2026-39 )
2/12/2026
Now in Fiscal Policy
2/12/2026
Favorable by Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism,...
2/9/2026
On Committee agenda-- Appropriations Committee on Transportation,...
2/4/2026
Now in Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and...
2/3/2026
Favorable by Transportation; YEAS 9 NAYS 0
1/29/2026
On Committee agenda-- Transportation, 02/03/26, 1:00 pm, 37 Senate Building
1/22/2026
Introduced
1/16/2026
Referred to Transportation; Appropriations Committee on...
1/7/2026
Filed
4 EARLIER →
STATUTES IT CHANGES
s. 320.06
+79 / −0
s. 320.084
+40 / −0
s. 320.0843
+56 / −1
s. 320.26
+51 / −8
s. 322.21
+132 / −0
s. 320.0848
+2 / −0
STAFF ANALYSES