ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION AND INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 3494

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 9, 2022

      The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 3494.

      As amended and reported, this bill prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle with a registration plate frame holder that conceals or obscures the name of the State or the registration number imprinted upon the plate, any part of any insert, or the name of the State, the registration number, or the expiration date on any temporary registration plate issued for the vehicle, provided that it is not a violation and not a basis for a lawful stop if the name of the State, registration number, part of any insert to the registration plate, and expiration date can still reasonably be identified or discerned.  The bill requires the Attorney General to issue guidance as the Attorney General deems necessary for law enforcement officers to properly interpret and enforce the provisions of the bill.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The committee amendments provide that a person is prohibited from driving a motor vehicle with a registration plate frame or holder that conceals or otherwise obscures the name of the State, the registration number, any part of any insert, and, in the case of temporary plates, the expiration date.  The amendments clarify that it is not a violation and not the basis for a lawful stop if certain information on a registration plate is concealed or otherwise obscured but can still be reasonably identified or discerned.

      The amendments require the Attorney General to issue guidance as the Attorney General deems necessary for law enforcement officers to properly interpret and enforce the provisions of the bill.  The amendments also remove references to the term “identification mark,” “marker,” and “license plate” in R.S.39:3-33 and replace those references with the term “registration plate.”  Under the bill, the term “registration plate” refers to the physical plate that is issued to drivers by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.