LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
SENATE, No. 660
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: FEBRUARY 25, 2022
SUMMARY
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Synopsis: |
Establishes that “100 percent Disabled Veterans” are not required to submit to MVC certain documentation to renew parking privileges. |
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Type of Impact: |
Minimal State Expenditure Decrease. |
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Agencies Affected: |
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. |
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Office of Legislative Services Estimate |
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Fiscal Impact |
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Annual |
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State Expenditure Decrease |
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Up to $104,000 |
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· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that the bill will potentially decrease annual Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) expenditures by a minimal amount, up to an average of $104,000 per year. The bill may alleviate a portion of the annual administrative workload related to the renewal of person with disability cards and the associated wheel chair symbol plates and placards, to the extent that it will eliminate the possibility of multiple interactions with the MVC and trips to MVC locations for 100 percent disabled veterans.
BILL DESCRIPTION
The bill clarifies that a military veteran who is 100 percent disabled is only required to submit a statement from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) certifying that they are 100 percent disabled on their initial application for a person with disabilities card and the associated wheel chair symbol placard and plates. The 100 percent disabled veteran would not have to resubmit the statement with a renewal application.
Under federal law, a veteran rendered permanently
disabled by a service-connected injury may receive a 100 percent disability
rating from the VA, which entitles the veteran to certain unemployment, health
care, and educational benefits. New Jersey allows these military veterans to
receive a disability identification card, placard, and license plates by
submitting a statement from the VA, certifying that they are 100 percent
disabled to MVC along with other required application documents. A military
veteran who qualifies as being 100 percent disabled is not required to submit
an application signed by a medical professional.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS finds that the bill will potentially decrease annual MVC expenditures by a minimal amount, up to an average of $104,000 per year. The bill may alleviate a portion of the annual administrative workload related to the renewal of person with disability cards and the associated wheel chair symbol plates and placards, to the extent that it will eliminate the possibility of multiple interactions with the MVC and trips to MVC locations for 100 percent disabled veterans who may have previously failed to produce the required documentation of their 100 percent disabled status upon renewal of their person with disability cards. The reduction in the annual administrative workload may depend on how many 100 percent disabled veterans choose to renew their person with a disability card and the associated plates and placard by mail.
Currently, when a renewal application is received by mail without the proper medical documentation, a new notice is required to be sent out to the applicant informing them that their application is missing certain necessary materials. If an applicant subsequently returns the wrong documentation or fails to respond to the notice, their application may be denied, requiring a new application to be filed. At that point, a portion of applicants may choose to simply come in to a MVC location, further increasing the administrative workload to renew a single person with disability card and the associated placard and plates. Under the bill, 100 percent disabled veterans who had previously submitted verification of their status from the VA with their initial application would avoid this circumstance, thereby eliminating the need to send additional notices out, avoiding the need for a 100 percent disabled veteran to make a separate or additional trip to an MVC location, and decreasing the administrative workload and overall number of interactions required to process a single renewal by mail.
It should be noted that, according to the VA, in 2019 there were 11,122 disabled veterans living in New Jersey who qualified as 100 percent disabled. If every 100 percent disabled veteran living in the State at that time applied for a person with disability card and the associated wheel chair symbol plates and placard, they would account for just under 0.2 percent of all licensed drivers in New Jersey at that time. Furthermore, there has been a concerted effort by the MVC to deploy mobile units for the purposes of renewing disabled veterans placards, plates, and person with a disability cards, among other tasks. While efforts were hampered in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MVC renewed 443 disabled veterans’ placards in 2019 through their mobile units.
Disabled persons within the State, regardless of their status as 100 percent disabled veterans, will still be required to renew their person with a disability cards and associated wheelchair symbol plates and placards every three years. This means that the fiscal impact of the bill will be limited to the number of multiple interactions with the MVC that are no longer needed due to the bill.
Based on information provided to the Legislature by the MVC in 2021, “the per-unit cost estimate for in-person, online, and mail transactions is not currently calculated (by the MVC).” Based on figures reported to the Legislature by the MVC in 2019, an average cost estimate of $28 per transaction can be derived through dividing the total operating expenditures for the MVC during 2019 by the approximate number of transactions completed in 2019. Using this estimate, an approximate decrease in administrative operating expenditures can be calculated.
Given the approximately 11,122 100 percent disabled veterans living in New Jersey and the estimated average of $28 per transaction at MVC, the OLS can estimate that the MVC would realize a maximum reduction in expenditures over a three-year period of $311,500, or a maximum annual average of approximately $104,000 in savings. Any actual reduction in expenditures will likely be less than this estimate due to the fact that not all 100 percent disabled veterans apply for person with a disability cards, the efforts MVC has made in deploying their mobile units to serve veterans who may need to renew their person with a disability cards, and the likelihood that the actual cost per transaction for renewal of a person with a disability card is less than the estimated average transaction cost for all MVC transactions of $28 per transaction.
There is no fee associated with the renewal of person with disability cards and the associated wheel chair symbol plates and placards. As such, the bill will have no impact on State revenues.
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Section: |
Authorities, Utilities, Transportation and Communications |
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Analyst: |
Assistant Research Analyst |
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Approved: |
Thomas Koenig Legislative Budget and Finance Officer |
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).