Special plates - Italian-American heritage

(1) Beginning January 1, 2008, the department shall issue special license plates to qualified applicants in accordance with this section for motorcycles, passenger cars, trucks, or noncommercial or recreational motor vehicles that do not exceed sixteen thousand pounds empty weight. (2) (a) There is hereby established the Italian-American heritage special license plate, which shall be issued to any person who pays the taxes and fees required under this section. (b) The department may stop issuing the Italian-American heritage special license plate if at least three thousand plates are not issued by July 1, 2016. A person who was issued an Italian-American heritage special license plate on or before July 1, 2016, may continue to use the plate after July 1, 2016. (c) The Italian-American heritage special license plate shall be designed: (I) To celebrate Italian-American heritage; and (II) In accordance with standards established by the department and be subject to the department's approval. (3) The amount of the taxes and fees for special license plates under this section is the same as the amount of the taxes and fees specified for regular motor vehicle license plates; except that the department shall collect a one-time fee of twenty-five dollars for issuance or replacement of each such license plate. The department shall transmit the additional one-time fee to the state treasurer, who shall credit the same to the highway users tax fund created in section 43-4-201, C.R.S. (4) An applicant may apply for personalized Italian-American heritage special license plates. Upon payment of the additional fee required by section 42-3-211 (6)(a) for personalized license plates, the department may issue such plates if the applicant complies with section 42-3-211. If an applicant has existing personalized license plates for a motor vehicle, the applicant may transfer the combination of letters or numbers to a new set of Colorado Italian-American heritage license plates for the vehicle upon paying the fee imposed by section 42-3-211 (6) and upon turning in such existing plates to the department. A person who has obtained personalized Italian-American heritage special license plates under this subsection (4) shall pay the annual fee imposed by section 42-3-211 (6)(b) for renewal of such personalized plates. The fees under this subsection (4) are in addition to all other taxes and fees imposed for the Italian-American heritage special license plates.