I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4709 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to States that 

have enacted and are enforcing certain laws with respect to stretch 

limousines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2019 

Mr. TONKO (for himself, Mr. DELGADO, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to award grants 

to States that have enacted and are enforcing certain 

laws with respect to stretch limousines, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Take Unsafe Limos 

5 Off the Road Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SAFETY OF STRETCH LIM2 OUSINES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 311 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 31162. Grant program for safety of stretch lim7 ousines 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

9 shall make a grant, in accordance with this section, to any 

10 State that has enacted and is enforcing a law that requires 

11 the impoundment or immobilization of a stretch limousine 

12 if such limousine is found to have an eligible defect upon 

13 inspection. 

14 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 

15 under this section for a fiscal year if such State has en16 acted and is enforcing a law described in subsection (a) 

17 on October 1 of such fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on October 1 of 

20 the first fiscal year beginning after the date of en21 actment of this section, the Secretary shall apportion 

22 funds appropriated to carry out this section to each 

23 State that has enacted and is enforcing a law de24 scribed in subsection (a) in an amount determined 

25 by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) subtracting all amounts provided to 

2 States pursuant to paragraph (2) from 

3 $5,000,000; and 

4 ‘‘(B) dividing the amount described in sub5 paragraph (A) by the number of States eligible 

6 for a grant for such fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(2) INCREASE OF AMOUNTS.—Beginning on 

8 October 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the 

9 date of enactment of this section, a State is eligible 

10 for an additional $50,000 if the State has enacted 

11 and is enforcing a law or regulation that requires— 

12 ‘‘(A) any safety inspection of a stretch lim13 ousine to be conducted at a designated site con14 trolled by the State; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the inspection described in subpara16 graph (A) to be conducted by employees trained 

17 in the inspection of stretch limousines. 

18 ‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—A State receiving a grant 

19 under this section may use such funds— 

20 ‘‘(1) for the impoundment or immobilization of 

21 a stretch limousine; 

22 ‘‘(2) for the establishment and operating ex23 penses of designated stretch limousine safety inspec24 tion sites; or 


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1 ‘‘(3) to train employees in the inspection of 

2 stretch limousines. 

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE DEFECT.—The term ‘eligible de5 fect’ means any defect that would cause a motor ve6 hicle to fail a commercial motor vehicle safety in7 spection. 

8 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

9 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given the 

10 term in section 32101 of title 49, United States 

11 Code. 

12 ‘‘(3) STRETCH LIMOUSINE.—The term ‘stretch 

13 limousine’ means a new or used passenger motor ve14 hicle that has been modified, altered, or extended in 

15 a manner that increases the overall wheelbase of the 

16 vehicle, exceeding the original equipment manufac17 turer’s wheelbase dimension for the base model and 

18 year of the vehicle, in any amount sufficient to ac19 commodate additional passengers with a seating ca20 pacity of not fewer than 9 passengers including the 

21 driver. 

22 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2024.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap2 ter 311 of title 49 is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following: 

‘‘31162. Grant program for safety of stretch limousines.’’. 

Æ 


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