Bill Text: NJ A4651 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requires MVC to provide notation on driver's license or identification card, upon request, of persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or other communication disorder.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-06 - Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading [A4651 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4651-Amended.html
ASSEMBLY, No. 4651
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 14, 2020
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman AURA K. DUNN
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman McKeon
SYNOPSIS
Requires MVC to issue special identification documents to persons diagnosed with autism upon request.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on December 9, 2021, with amendments.
An Act concerning protections for drivers with certain medical conditions and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services, the Superintendent of the Division of State Police within the Department of Law and Public Safety, and at least one organization that advocates on behalf of persons who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, shall design 1[and make available blue envelopes that] a special driver's license and non-driver identification card bearing a digital imprint visible to law enforcement, which1 may be utilized by 1[a person who has] persons who have1 been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
b. 1[The blue envelopes developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall: (1) be of a color shade easily recognizable to law enforcement officers; (2) be capable of holding a person's driver's license, motor vehicle registration card, and insurance identification card; (3) provide written information on the outside of the envelope identifying the envelope holder as a person who has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder; and (4) provide written guidance to assist law enforcement officers in effectively communicating with a person who has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder] Upon application by any person who has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, the chief administrator shall issue to the applicant the special driver's license or non-driver identification card bearing the digital imprint designed in accordance with subsection a. of this section. No fee over and above the required fee for a driver's license or non-driver identification card shall be imposed for the special driver's license or special non-driver identification card1.
c. The chief administrator shall, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services, establish the documentation required to be produced by a person who has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, or by the parent, guardian, or caregiver of the person, in order to receive 1[an envelope issued pursuant to subsection a.] a special driver's license or non-driver identification card issued pursuant to subsection b.1 of this section.
1d.
The commission, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services, the
Superintendent of the Division of State Police within the Department of Law and
Public Safety, and at least one organization that advocates on behalf of
persons who have been
diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, shall provide written guidance to assist law enforcement officers in effectively communicating with a person who has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The commission shall distribute a copy of the written guidance to each police department in the State.1
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the thirteenth month following enactment.
