Bill Text: NJ A2630 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates special license plates supporting Autism Awareness.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health Committee [A2630 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A2630-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JAY WEBBER
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
Assemblyman JOHN DIMAIO
District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)
Assemblywoman SHAVONDA E. SUMTER
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen S.Kean, DeAngelo, Assemblywoman Dunn, Assemblymen Freiman and Conaway
SYNOPSIS
Creates special license plates supporting Autism Awareness.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act creating special license plates supporting Autism Awareness and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Upon proper application, the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall issue special license plates supporting Autism Awareness for any motor vehicle owned or leased and registered in the State. In addition to the registration number and other markings or identification otherwise prescribed by law, the license plate shall display appropriate words or a slogan supporting Autism Awareness. The chief administrator shall select the design and color scheme, in consultation with the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism, established in the Department of Health, pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1999, c.105 (C.30:6D-59). Autism Awareness license plates shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, except as hereinafter otherwise specifically provided.
b. Application for issuance of Autism Awareness license plates shall be made to the chief administrator on forms and in a manner prescribed by the chief administrator. In order to be deemed complete, an application shall be accompanied by a fee of $50, payable to the commission, which shall be in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for the registration of a motor vehicle. The chief administrator shall collect annually, subsequent to the year of issuance of the Autism Awareness license plate, a $10 fee for the license plate in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for the registration of a motor vehicle. The additional fees required by this subsection shall be deposited in the "Autism Awareness License Plate Fund" created pursuant to subsection c. of this section.
c. There is created in the Department of the Treasury a special non-lapsing fund to be known as the "Autism Awareness License Plate Fund." There shall be deposited in the fund the amount collected from all license plate fees collected pursuant to subsection b. of this section, less the amounts necessary to reimburse the commission for administrative costs pursuant to subsection d. of this section. Monies deposited in the fund shall be appropriated annually to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, to be expended in consultation with the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism. Monies deposited in the fund shall be held in interest-bearing accounts in public depositories as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1970, c.236 (C.17:9-41), and may be invested or reinvested in securities approved by the State Treasurer. Interest or other income earned on monies deposited in the fund, and any monies which may be appropriated or otherwise become available for the purposes of the fund, shall be credited to and deposited in the fund for use as set forth in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
d. Prior to the deposit into the fund of the additional fees collected pursuant to subsection b. of this section, amounts thereof as are necessary shall be used to reimburse the commission for all costs reasonably and actually incurred, as stipulated by the chief administrator, for:
(1) designing, producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the availability of the Autism Awareness license plates; and
(2) any computer programming changes that may be initially necessary to implement the Autism Awareness license plate program established by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
The chief administrator shall annually certify to the State Treasurer the average cost per license plate incurred in the immediately preceding year by the commission in producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the availability of the Autism Awareness license plates. The annual certification of the average cost per license plate shall be approved by the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor.
In the event that the average cost per license plate as certified by the chief administrator and approved by the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, is greater than the $50 application fee established in subsection b. of this section in two consecutive fiscal years, the chief administrator may discontinue the issuance of Autism Awareness license plates.
e. The chief administrator shall notify eligible motorists of the opportunity to obtain Autism Awareness license plates by publicizing the availability of the license plates on the website of the commission. The Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism, and any other individual or entity designated by the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism, may publicize the availability of Autism Awareness license plates in any manner the council deems appropriate.
f. The chief administrator and the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism shall develop and enter into a memorandum of agreement setting forth the procedures to be followed in carrying out their respective responsibilities under P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
g. The Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism shall appoint a representative who shall act as a liaison between the organization and the commission. The liaison shall represent the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism in any and all communications with the commission regarding the Autism Awareness license plates established by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
2. a. No State or other public funds shall be used by the commission for the initial cost of:
(1) designing, producing, issuing, and publicizing the availability of Autism Awareness license plates; or
(2) any computer programming changes which may be necessary to implement the Autism Awareness license plate program established by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. A representative designated by the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism shall contribute monies in an amount to be determined by the chief administrator, not to exceed a total of $25,000, to be used to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission for designing, producing, issuing, and publicizing the availability of Autism Awareness license plates, and any computer programming which may be necessary to implement the program. To further offset the initial costs incurred by the commission for the Autism Awareness license plates authorized by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), other concerned organizations and individual donors may contribute monies to the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism, or the individual or entity designated by the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism, for this purpose. Any amount remaining after the payment of the initial costs shall be deposited in the "Autism Awareness License Plate Fund" established pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
c. The commission shall not begin designing, producing, issuing, or publicizing the availability of Autism Awareness license plates, or making any necessary programming changes, until the following requirements have been met:
(1) The individual or entity designated by the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism has provided the commission with the money necessary, as determined by the chief administrator pursuant to subsection b. of this section, to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission in establishing the Autism Awareness license plate program; and
(2) The liaison appointed by the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism pursuant to subsection g. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) has provided the commission with not less than 500 completed applications for Autism Awareness license plates. These applications shall constitute the initial order for Autism Awareness license plates and shall be accompanied by a fee representing the total cost of the initial order. The fee shall be determined by multiplying the number of sets of license plates being ordered by the applicable initial fee for each set of license plates as set forth in subsection b. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
3. This act shall take effect immediately, but shall remain inoperative until the first day of the 13th month following the date on which the conditions set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection c. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) have been satisfied. The chief administrator may take anticipatory actions in advance of that date as may be necessary for the timely implementation of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall expire if the conditions set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection c. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) are not satisfied by the last day of the 12th month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes the creation of a special license plate supporting Autism Awareness. The design of the Autism Awareness license plate is to be chosen by the Chief Administrator (chief administrator) of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (commission), in consultation with the Governor's Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism (council).
In addition to all fees otherwise required by law for the registration of a motor vehicle, there is an application fee of $50 and an annual renewal fee of $10 for the Autism Awareness license plates. The additional fees, after the deduction of the cost of designing, producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the plates and of any computer programming changes that are necessary to implement the license plate program, will be deposited into a special non-lapsing fund known as the " Autism Awareness License Plate Fund." The proceeds of the fund are to be annually appropriated to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, to be expended in consultation with the council. .
The chief administrator is required to annually certify the average cost per license plate in producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the Autism Awareness license plates. If the average cost exceeds $50 for two consecutive fiscal years, the chief administrator may discontinue the license plate program.
The bill provides that no State or other public funds may be used by the commission for the initial cost of designing, producing, issuing, and publicizing the availability of Autism Awareness license plates or any computer programming changes which may be necessary to implement the Autism Awareness license plate program.
The bill also requires that an individual or entity designated by the council contribute monies in an amount to be determined by the chief administrator, not to exceed a total of $25,000, to be used to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission for designing, producing, issuing, and publicizing the availability of Autism Awareness license plates, and any computer programming which may be necessary to implement the program.
The bill prohibits the commission from designing, producing, issuing, or publicizing the availability of Autism Awareness license plates, or making any necessary programming changes, until: (1) an individual or entity designated by the council has provided the commission with the money necessary to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission in establishing the Autism Awareness license plate program; and (2) the council, or its designee, has provided the commission with a minimum of 500 completed applications for Autism Awareness license plates, upon the availability for purchase of those license plates.
The chief administrator is responsible for publicizing the availability of the license plates on the commission's website. The council, or any individual or entity designated by the council, may also publicize the availability of Autism Awareness license plates in any manner the council deems appropriate.
The provisions of the bill will remain inoperative until the appropriate applications and fees required to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission are provided by an individual or entity designated by the council. The bill expires after 12 months if sufficient applications and fees to offset the initial costs are not received.
