Authorizes creation of Second Amendment license plates.

A184

ASSEMBLY, No. 184

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Assemblyman ROBERT AUTH

District 39 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Authorizes creation of Second Amendment license
plates.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

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.