A4800

An Act concerning the creation of special license plates commemorating the horse as the State animal 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 State Animal 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 the words "State Animal," and an emblem indicating that the horse is the official New Jersey State Animal. The chief administrator shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, select the design and color scheme of the State Animal license plates. The State Animal 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 State Animal 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 State Animal 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 “State Animal 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 “State Animal 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 the administrative costs pursuant to subsection d. of this section. Monies deposited in the fund shall be appropriated annually to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to support any departmental program to support the health and welfare of horses and to provide therapeutic riding to individuals with special needs in the State. 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 such securities as are 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 this section.

d. Prior to the deposit of the additional fees collected pursuant to subsection b. of this section into the “State Animal 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:

(1) designing, producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing the availability of the State Animal license plates; and

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

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 State Animal 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 State Animal license plates.

e. The chief administrator shall notify eligible motorists of the opportunity to obtain State Animal license plates by publicizing the availability of the license plates on the website of the commission. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture, and any other individual or entity designated by the department, may publicize the availability of the license plates in any manner the department deems appropriate.

f. The chief administrator and the Secretary of Agriculture 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 Secretary of Agriculture shall appoint a representative who shall act as a liaison between the department and the commission. The liaison shall represent the department in any and all communications with the commission regarding the 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 State Animal license plates; or

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

b. An individual or entity designated by the Secretary of Agriculture 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 State Animal license plates, and any computer programming which may be necessary to implement the program. Concerned organizations and individual donors may contribute monies to the department to be used to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission for the State Animal 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 in the “State Animal 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 State Animal license plates, or making any necessary programming changes, until the following requirements have been met:

(1) The individual or entity designated by the Secretary of Agriculture 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 State Animal license plate program; and

(2) The liaison appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture 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 State Animal license plates. These applications shall constitute the initial order for State Animal 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 such 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 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (commission) to issue special State Animal license plates. The license plates are to be designed by the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (chief administrator), in consultation with the Secretary (secretary) of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (department), and feature an emblem that indicates that the horse is the official State Animal of New Jersey.

In addition to the required motor vehicle registration fees, there is an application fee of $50 and an annual renewal fee of $10 for the State Animal license plates. After deducting the costs to implement the plates, the additional fees collected are to be deposited into the “State Animal License Plate Fund.” The proceeds of the fund are to be appropriated annually to the department to support any departmental program to support the health and wellbeing of horses and to provide therapeutic riding to individuals with special needs in the State.

The chief administrator is required to annually certify the average cost of producing, issuing, 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 State Animal license plate program. The bill also requires that the secretary appoint a liaison to represent the department in all communications with the commission regarding the State Animal license plates.

The bill provides that State or other public funds may not be used by the commission for the initial cost to implement the State Animal license plate program. The bill requires an individual or entity designated by the secretary 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 any computer programming necessary to implement the program. The bill authorizes the department to receive funds from private sources to be used to offset the initial costs.

The chief administrator is not required to design, produce, issue, or publicize the availability of the State Animal license plates, or make any necessary programming changes, until: (1) an individual or entity designated by the secretary has provided the commission with the money necessary to offset the initial costs incurred by the commission in establishing the State Animal license plate program; and (2) the secretary, or the secretary’s designee, has provided the commission with a minimum of 500 completed applications for the State Animal license plates, upon the availability for purchase of those license plates.

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 the department’s designee. The bill expires after 12 months if sufficient applications and fees to offset the initial costs are not received.