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S3742
SENATE, No. 3742
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� JON M. BRAMNICK
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Senator� KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKnight
SYNOPSIS
���� Creates special license plates supporting Autism
Awareness.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
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.