(a)  The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates in honor of César E. Chávez. The plate shall be designed to reference the “César E. Chávez Committee of Rhode Island” and shall bear the seal of the state imprinted on it.

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(b)  The special plate shall be displayed upon the same registration number assigned to the vehicle for which it was issued and shall be used in place of, and in the same manner as, the registration plates issued to the vehicle. The original registration plates for the vehicle shall be removed from the vehicle and returned to the division of motor vehicles. The registration certificate for the plates shall be carried in the vehicle in accordance with § 31-3-9. The registration certificate shall be in effect for the special plate.

(c)  The César E. Chávez motor vehicle plates shall be the same size as regular motor-vehicle plates and shall be designed in conjunction with the division of motor vehicles, with design approval by the Rhode Island state police.

(d)  The César E. Chávez motor vehicle plates shall be subject to a minimum prepaid order of at least nine hundred (900) sets of plates per plate type (i.e. passenger, commercial, etc.). The César E. Chávez motor vehicle plates shall not be issued unless the minimum order(s) requirements are met. The initial order will be handled by the César E. Chávez Committee of Rhode Island, and shall not be submitted to the division of motor vehicles for production until the minimum order(s) have been met and the proper paperwork submitted to the division.

(e)  The administrator of motor vehicles shall develop prepayment procedures and any other procedures deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(f)  In addition to the regular prescribed motor vehicle registration fee, the César E. Chávez plates shall be subject to a forty-dollar issuance ($40.00) surcharge.

(g)  The forty-dollar issuance ($40.00) surcharge shall be allocated as follows: Twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be allocated to the general fund and the remaining twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be distributed annually to the César E. Chávez Scholarship Fund with the Rhode Island Foundation.

(h)  A ten-dollar ($10.00) surcharge for subsequent registration renewals shall be allocated to the César E. Chávez Scholarship Fund with the Rhode Island Foundation.

(i)  There shall be no refunds for early cancellation of César E. Chávez motor vehicle plates.

(j)  The César E. Chávez Committee of Rhode Island will be required to submit an annual accounting report before such monies are distributed.