Sec. 5. 10 MRSA §1250-K, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 387, §1, is repealed.

Sec. 6. 12 MRSA §7824, sub-§12 is enacted to read:

12.__Determination of valid franchise.__The commissioner or the commissioner's designee or a municipal agent shall determine prior to issuing a registration for a new snowmobile that the new snowmobile purchased by the applicant was sold by a new snowmobile dealer holding a valid, current franchise with the manufacturer of the brand of new snowmobile being registered.__ For the purposes of this subsection, "new snowmobile" means a snowmobile that has not been sold previously to any person except a distributor or wholesaler or personal sports mobile dealer for resale.__"New snowmobile" also means a snowmobile that has not been registered in this State or any other state or for which sales tax has not been paid in this State or any other state if that other state taxes the purchase of a new snowmobile.

Sec. 7. 12 MRSA §7825, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 420, §1, is amended to read:

1. Application and issuance. Any person who is in the business of selling new or used snowmobiles in the State shall register as a dealer and secure a dealer's license from the commissioner. Dealers so registered and licensed need not register individual snowmobiles. For the purposes of this subsection, "new snowmobile" has the same meaning as in section 7824, subsection 12.

FISCAL NOTE

This bill may increase prosecutions for Class E crimes. If a jail sentence is imposed, the additional costs to the counties are estimated to be $83.36 per day per prisoner. The number of prosecutions that may result in a jail sentence and the resulting costs to the county jail system are expected to be insignificant.

The additional workload and administrative costs associated with the minimal number of new cases filed in the court system can be absorbed within the budgeted resources of the Judicial Department. The collection of additional fines may increase General Fund revenue by minor amounts.

SUMMARY

This bill is the majority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Business and Economic Development pursuant to Joint Order 2001, H.P. 1586. It makes a number of changes to the laws governing the unlawful sale of new personal sports mobiles and the registration of new snowmobiles. Among other things, it amends the definition of "new personal sports mobile" to include those new personal sports mobiles not previously registered in this State or any other state or for which sales tax has not been paid in this State or any other state. It also requires that a personal sports mobile dealer hold a valid franchise from a manufacturer to sell a new personal sports mobile. The bill also makes it a Class E crime for a person to unlawfully sell a new personal sports mobile. Further, the bill requires a municipal agent to make a determination that a new snowmobile being registered has been purchased from a new snowmobile dealer holding a valid franchise with the manufacturer of the brand of new snowmobile being registered.