New Jersey-2024-A4153-Introduced

An Act authorizing the creation and issuance of Second Amendment license plates 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. Upon proper application, the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall issue Second Amendment license plates for any motor vehicle owned or leased and registered in this State. In addition to the registration number and other markings or identification otherwise prescribed by law, the license plates shall display a militiaman along with the words "Protect the Second Amendment" at the bottom of the license plate. The chief administrator shall, in consultation with the Fish and Game Council, select the design and color scheme of the Second Amendment license plates. The Second Amendment license plates shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, except as hereinafter otherwise provided.

b. Application for issuance of Second Amendment license plates shall be made to the chief administrator in a form and 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 Second Amendment license plates, a $10 fee for the license plates 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 "Second Amendment License Plate Fund" created pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection c. of this section.

c. (1) There is created in the Department of the Treasury a special non-lapsing fund to be known as the "Second Amendment 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 paragraph (1) of subsection d. of this section. The monies deposited in the fund shall be appropriated annually to the Fish and Game Council and are to be used to provide funding to support State-owned gun ranges.

(2) 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 into the fund, and any monies that may be appropriated or otherwise become available for 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. (1) Prior to the deposit of the additional fees collected pursuant to subsection b. of this section into the "Second Amendment License Plate Fund," 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:

(a) designing, producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the availability of the Second Amendment license plates; and

(b) any computer programming changes that may be initially necessary to implement the Second Amendment license plate program in an amount not to exceed $150,000.

(2) 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 Second Amendment license plates. The annual certification of the average cost per license plate shall be approved by the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor.

(3) 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 Second Amendment license plates.

e. The chief administrator shall notify eligible motorists of the opportunity to obtain Second Amendment license plates by publicizing the availability of the license plates on the commission's website. The Fish and Game Council, and any other individual or entity designated by the council, may publicize the availability of the Second Amendment license plates in any manner that the council deems appropriate.

f. The chief administrator and the Fish and Game Council 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 Fish and Game Council shall appoint a representative who shall act as a liaison between the council and the commission. The liaison shall represent the council in any and all communications with the commission regarding the Second Amendment license plates established by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

2. a. State or public funds shall not be used by the commission for the initial cost of:

(1) designing, producing, issuing, and publicizing the availability of Second Amendment license plates; or

(2) any computer programming changes that may be necessary to implement the Second Amendment license plate program established by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

b. An individual or entity designated by the Fish and Game Council shall contribute non-public 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 the Second Amendment license plates, and any computer programming that may be necessary to implement the program. Concerned organizations and individual donors may contribute monies to the council to be used to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission for the Second Amendment license plates authorized by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). Any amount remaining after the payment of the initial cost shall be deposited into the "Second Amendment License Plate Fund" established pursuant to paragraph (1) of 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 Second Amendment license plates, or making any necessary programming changes, until the following requirements have been met:

(1) an individual or entity designated by the Fish and Game Council has provided the commission with the non-public monies 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 Second Amendment license plate program; and

(2) the liaison appointed by the council 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 Second Amendment license plates. These applications shall constitute the initial order for the Second Amendment 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 this act have been satisfied. The chief administrator may take anticipatory acts in advance of that date as may be necessary for the timely implementation of this act. This act shall expire if the conditions set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection c. of section 2 of this act are not satisfied by the last day of the 12th month following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill authorizes the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (commission) to issue special Second Amendment license plates.

The bill provides that the design of the Second Amendment license plate is to display a militiaman along with the words "Protect the Second Amendment" at the bottom of the license plate. In consultation with the Fish and Game Council (council), the chief administrator will select the design and color scheme of the Second Amendment license plates.

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 Second Amendment license plates. After deducting 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, additional fees will be deposited into a special non-lapsing fund known as the "Second Amendment License Plate Fund." The proceeds of the fund will be annually appropriated to the council and will be used to provide funding to support State-owned gun ranges.

The chief administrator is required to annually certify the average cost of producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the availability of the specialty license plates. If the average cost per plate exceeds $50 in two consecutive fiscal years, the chief administrator may discontinue the license plate program. The bill also requires the council to appoint a liaison to represent the council in all communications with the commission regarding the Second Amendment license plates.

The bill prohibits the commission from using State or other public funds to cover the initial cost of implementing the Second Amendment license plate program. The bill requires an individual or entity designated by the council to contribute non-public monies, not to exceed $25,000, to offset the initial costs to design, produce, issue, and publicize the license plates and for computer programming changes that may be necessary to implement the program. The bill authorizes the council to receive funds from private sources to offset the initial costs.

The commission is not required to design, produce, issue, or publicize the availability of the license plates until: (1) the 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 license plate program; and (2) the council liaison has provided the commission with a minimum of 500 completed applications for the license plates.

The provisions of the bill will remain inoperative until the first day of the 13th month after the appropriate applications and fees required to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission are provided to the commission. The bill expires on the last day of the 12th month after enactment if sufficient applications and fees to offset the initial costs are not received by that date.