Committee advances bill to simplify motor‑vehicle tax paperwork for deployed service members

House Bill 26‑1200, sponsored by Senator Byron Pelton, would remove a separate affidavit requirement for deployed service members seeking the $1 specific‑ownership tax and registration fee exemption and allow qualifying service members stationed outside the United States to use military orders or other evidence acceptable to the Department of Revenue.

Pelton told the committee the bill is intended to streamline county motor‑vehicle office procedures and does not expand eligibility or change monetary amounts; the fiscal note shows no meaningful state or local fiscal impact. Legislative legal services explained drafting differences that caused committee members to ask whether provisions refer to being "outside the state" versus "outside the country." The drafters said the bill sets Jan. 1 effective timing in its petition clause where applicable and clarified that exemptions from penalties and exemptions from the tax itself differ in scope based on whether a member is outside the nation or simply outside Colorado.

With no attendees signed for public testimony, the sponsor offered no amendments; Vice Chair Marchman moved the measure with a favorable recommendation to the Committee of the Whole and the committee recorded a roll call with a majority of ayes to advance the bill.