Bill Text: NJ A3749 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Allows "100 percent Disabled Veterans" to receive parking privileges reserved for persons with disability.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-3)
Status: (Passed) 2017-07-21 - Approved P.L.2017, c.166. [A3749 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A3749-Chaptered.html
§3 - Note
An Act concerning parking for persons with a disability and amending P.L.1949, c.280.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-204) is amended to read as follows:
1. The [term] phrase "person with a disability" [as employed herein shall include] means:
a. any person who has lost the use of one or more limbs as a consequence of paralysis, amputation, or other permanent disability or who has a permanent disability as to be unable to ambulate without the aid of an assisting device or whose mobility is otherwise limited as certified by a physician with a plenary license to practice medicine and surgery in this State or a bordering State; a podiatrist licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state; a physician stationed at a military or naval installation located in this State who is licensed to practice in any state; a chiropractic physician licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state; a physician assistant licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state; or a nurse practitioner licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state ; or
b. any citizen and resident of this State honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States who is adjudicated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or its successor, as being permanently 100 percent disabled.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.3, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1949, c. 280 (C.39:4-205) is amended to read as follows:
2. The Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall issue, at the expense of the State of New Jersey, person with a disability identification cards upon the application of qualifying persons with disabilities [, as heretofore defined,] and after [due] an investigation of the qualifying status of each applicant. [Said] The card shall, amongst other things, identify the persons with disabilities and the registration number of the vehicle for which any wheelchair symbol license plates have been issued under the provisions of section 3 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-206) and shall state that he is a person with a disability validly qualified [hereunder] to receive [such] a card, that [said] the card is for the exclusive use of the person to whom it has been duly issued, is nontransferable and will be forfeited if presented by any other person, and that any abuse of any privilege, benefit, precedence, or consideration granted to any person to whom [such] the card may be issued will be sufficient cause for revocation of [said] the card, corresponding windshield placard and wheelchair symbol license plates, and the same may be forfeited or revoked accordingly, and in the absence of [any such] forfeiture or revocation [said] the card shall be valid until the last day of the 36th calendar month following the calendar month in which that card was issued.
Every application for the issuance or renewal of a person with a disability identification card shall contain a statement signed by a physician, podiatrist, chiropractic physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state or a physician stationed at a military or naval installation located in this State who is licensed to practice in any state, certifying that the applicant's stated disability qualifies the applicant to meet the definition of "person with a disability" pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-204). A person who qualifies as a veteran with a permanent disability pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-204) may submit, in lieu of a statement signed by a certified medical professional, an application that contains a statement signed by a representative of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs certifying that the person is permanently 100 percent disabled.
In order to be approved, the application for a person with a disability identification card shall be submitted to the commission not more than 60 days following the date upon which a physician, podiatrist, chiropractic physician, physician assistant, [or] nurse practitioner , or representative of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs certifies that the applicant meets the definition of "person with a disability" pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-204). The application shall also include any additional information pertinent to the certification which the chief administrator, in the chief administrator's discretion, may require, including, but not limited to, the National Provider Identifier or state-issued licensing number of the physician, podiatrist, chiropractic physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who certifies the applicant's eligibility for a person with a disability identification card.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.3, s.2)
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the
seventh month next following enactment, except the chief administrator may take
any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the
implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill permits a military veteran who is designated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as a "100 Percent Disabled Veteran" to park a motor vehicle in parking spaces reserved for persons with a disability. Under the bill, military veterans designated as 100 percent disabled are to receive from the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) a person with a disability card, hanging placard, and license plates that display a wheel chair insignia.
Current law requires a person with a permanent disability to submit to the MVC an application signed by a medical professional certifying that the person qualifies to receive disability parking privileges. This bill allows a military veteran to submit a statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying that he or she is 100 percent disabled. A military veteran who qualifies as being 100 percent disabled would not be required to submit an application signed by a medical professional.
Under federal law, a veteran rendered permanently disabled by a service-connected injury may receive from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs a 100 percent disability rating, which entitles the veteran to certain unemployment, health care, and educational benefits. The sponsor believes that these veterans should be entitled to park their motor vehicles in parking spaces reserved for persons with a disability without being required to submit a separate certification from a medical professional.
Allows "100 percent Disabled Veterans" to receive parking privileges reserved for persons with disability.
