A bill to allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.

Senate Bill

S. 3985

119th Congress

A bill to allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.

In Committee

Introduced:Mar 4, 2026

Primary Sponsor

Sponsor information unavailable

Cosponsors

0

Quick Stats

Summary

This bill would allow states to require boat owners to pay state boating fees when they register their vessels with a vessel number. States would be able to collect these boating-related fees at the same time they collect other fees associated with vessel registration.

Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Introduced3/4/2026

StatusRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

ChamberSenate

Data from Congress.gov

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Vote Prediction

A bill to allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.

This bill would allow states to require boat owners to pay state boating fees when they register their vessels with a vessel number. States would be able to collect these boating-related fees at the same time they collect other fees associated with vessel regi

Community Breakdown

Pass

0%

Fail

0%

0 predictions

This bill would allow states to require boat owners to pay state boating fees when they register their vessels with a vessel number. States would be able to collect these boating-related fees at the same time they collect other fees associated with vessel registration.

Bill Number: 3985
Introduced: 3/4/2026
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Data from Congress.gov

AI-generated summary

Fact Sheet

Title: A bill to allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.
Bill Number: 3985
Sponsor: No sponsor
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced: 3/4/2026
Summary: This bill would allow states to require boat owners to pay state boating fees when they register their vessels with a vessel number. States would be able to collect these boating-related fees at the same time they collect other fees associated with vessel registration.

Data from Congress.gov

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill would allow states to require boat owners to pay state boating fees when they register their vessels with a vessel number. States would be able to collect these boating-related fees at the same time they collect other fees associated with vessel registration.

Last updated: 3/6/2026

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

The bill authorizes states to make payment of state boating fees a requirement for issuing vessel registration numbers.
States would be permitted to collect boating fees together with other vessel numbering fees in a single transaction.
The legislation affects the federal-state relationship regarding boat registration and fee collection processes.
This change would streamline the fee collection process by allowing states to bundle multiple boating-related charges.

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

This bill primarily affects boat owners who register their vessels and state agencies that manage boat registration systems. Boat owners may need to pay additional state boating fees as part of the registration process, while states would gain clearer authority to collect these fees and could simplify their administrative processes by collecting multiple fees at once.

Policy Areas

No policy areas assigned yet.

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

3985, 119th Congress (2026). "A bill to allow States to require payment of State fees related to boating as a condition for issuance of a vessel number and to collect such fees in conjunction with other fees related to vessel numbering.". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/119-s-3985

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