SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1550

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 12, 2023

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1550.

      This bill authorizes the surviving spouse or other family member of a decedent to operate the decedent’s motor vehicle upon the public highways of this State under the decedent’s registration certificate until the expiration of that registration certificate.  New Jersey law currently provides a surviving spouse or other family member 30 days to operate a vehicle under a decedent’s registration certificate.

      As reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 1550 is identical to Senate Bill No. 3424, which also was reported by the committee on this date.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill may result in an indeterminate decrease in State and local revenues by reducing the number of persons who would be fined for operating a motor vehicle without a valid registration.

      In most circumstances, the bill is expected to extend the period of time in which the family member of a decedent may lawfully operate the decedent’s motor vehicle. As a result, this bill is expected to reduce the number of instances in which a person would be deemed to operate a motor vehicle without valid registration, thereby decreasing the amount of associated fine collections.

      The State does not appear to maintain data concerning (1) the number of instances in which a family member of a decedent is fined for operating the decedent’s motor vehicle more than 30 days after the person’s death; and (2) the amount of fines imposed on such persons. Consequently, the OLS is unable to quantify the fiscal impact of the bill.        When a person is fined for a motor vehicle violation, the fine collections are either retained by the State or divided equally between the host municipality and host county depending on whether the fine was imposed by a State or local law enforcement officer. Accordingly, the impact of reduced fine collections would be spread between the State, counties, and municipalities.