Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Catalano and McGuckin
SYNOPSIS
Temporarily extends deadline to register vehicle and obtain driver’s license for new State residents during COVID-19 public health emergency.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing temporary extension of vehicle registration and driver’s license deadlines for new State residents.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of P.L.1955, c.53 (C.39:3-17.1) to the contrary, any person who becomes a resident of this State and who immediately prior thereto was authorized to operate and drive a motor vehicle or motor vehicles in this State as a non-resident pursuant to R.S.39:3-15 and R.S.39:3-17, shall not lose the right to so operate and drive a motor vehicle or motor vehicles by becoming a resident of this State, but that right shall continue to be in full force and effect for 120 days, unless a longer period of reciprocity is otherwise provided by law, after establishing residency in this State in the same manner and to the same extent as though the person was a non-resident.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of P.L.1955, c.53 (C.39:3-17.1) to the contrary, any person who becomes a resident of this State and who immediately prior thereto was authorized to operate and drive a motor vehicle or motor vehicles in this State as a non-resident pursuant to R.S.39:3-15 and R.S.39:3-17, shall register any vehicle operated on the public highways of this State within 120 days of so becoming a resident of New Jersey, pursuant to R.S.39:3-4 or section 2 of P.L.1968, c.439 (C.39:3-8.1).
c. The extension of nonresident driving rights provided in subsection a. and subsection b. of this section shall apply to persons who become residents of the State during the period of time in which the public health emergency caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), established by Executive Order No. 103 of 2020, and any subsequent executive orders extending the public health emergency, remains in effect.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire at the end of the public health emergency caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), either upon the expiration of Executive Order No. 103 of 2020 and any subsequent executive orders extending the public health emergency; or, in the absence of a rescission by the Governor, upon the termination in any other manner of the declared public health emergency.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a person who is allowed to operate a motor vehicle as a non-resident has 120 days to obtain a New Jersey driver’s license and to register a motor vehicle upon becoming a resident of the State, if that person becomes a resident during the Coronavirus 2019 public health emergency, defined as the period of time during which Executive Order No. 103 of 2020, and any subsequent executive order extending the public health emergency, is in effect.
Under current law, a person generally has permission to operate a motor vehicle in the State as a non-resident if the person is licensed to drive and has registered the person’s vehicle in another State of residence within the United States or certain other countries where the State has reciprocity agreements to honor driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations. If a person moves from one of those locations to New Jersey, State law provides the person with 60 days to obtain a State driver’s license and vehicle registration. This bill only extends that 60-day period to 120 days for people who change their residence during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Upon the expiration of that emergency order, this bill is to expire and every person who establishes residency in the State is to once again have only 60 days to obtain a State driver’s license and motor vehicle registration; however, if a person were to establish residency on the day before the expiration of the executive order, that person would continue to have 120 days from the date the person establishes residency in New Jersey.