SENATE LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 727
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 3, 1997
The Senate Law and Public Safety Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 727.
As amended and released by the committee, this bill permits the issuance of special "Conquer Cancer" license plates to raise funds to assist the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research in its efforts to find new methods of treating and preventing cancer through its approved research projects at qualifying research institutions throughout the State.
The special plates would bear the slogan "Conquer Cancer" and may include a distinctive emblem, designed by the Commissioner of Health and approved by the Director of Motor Vehicles. Motorists who wish to obtain the special plates would be required to pay a $50 application fee and a $10 annual renewal fee. A portion of the revenues raised would be used to reimburse the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Health for their costs. The fees would be deposited into the Cancer Research Fund, from which monies are appropriated for research projects.
The committee amendments delete language which would have permitted the license plate fees to be used for institutional support services for approved research projects in addition to funding the projects themselves. The amendments also provide that any monetary donation made available to the State to support this license plate program would be deposited in the Cancer Research Fund and used in the same manner as monies collected from fees for the special plates. The committee amendments further provide that the application fee for the special plates would be $50 and the renewal fee would be $10.
The committee adopted clarifying amendments with respect to the costs incurred in relation to the special license plates. The amendments also delay the effective date of the bill to the first day of the seventh month following enactment to allow the division sufficient time to prepare the issuance of the special license plates. Finally, the committee amendments provide that the director may discontinue issuance of the special license plates if the average cost of the special plates exceeds the application fee in two consecutive fiscal years.
As amended and released by the committee, this bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 1139 (2R), which also was released by the committee on this date.