LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3673

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: JULY 18, 2025

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Permits person with certain brain injuries to voluntarily make notation on driver’s license, identification card, and in MVC registry; establishes program to train law enforcement officers in interactions with persons with certain brain injuries. 

Type of Impact:

Annual increase in State and local expenditures. 

Agencies Affected:

New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; Office of Information Technology; Department of Law and Public Safety; Department of Human Services; local law enforcement agencies.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

Annual

 

State Expenditure Increase 

Indeterminate

 

Local Expenditure Increase 

Indeterminate

 

 

 

 

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) projects that implementing the bill will result in indeterminate initial development costs and ongoing administrative expenditures for the State for both the driver’s license and identification card designation and the law enforcement training program.  The magnitude of any State cost increase will depend on implementation decisions made by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, which the OLS is unable to anticipate.

 

·         The cost to add a restriction code on a driver’s license or identification card is not known; however, programming or design changes of this type can largely be completed with the assistance of the Office of Information Technology, and the change orders are expected to be comparable to other change orders that the commission has issued to its vendors in the past.  The bill’s requirements are not expected to significantly alter the existing contract with the commission’s document vendors.

 

·         The Department of Law and Public Safety, in consultation with other departments, will have discretion to determine the form and manner of the law enforcement training procedures to assist law enforcement to better interact with individuals with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  Decisions about the design and scope of the training will directly impact the amount of staff time and materials needed to develop the training and the subsequent costs to administer the training.

 

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill permits the holder of a basic driver’s license or non-driver identification card to voluntarily indicate on the license or identification card that the holder has been diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  The designation is to be used by law enforcement officers or emergency medical professionals to identify and effectively communicate with the person. 

      The designation is to be given a restriction code that is required to be displayed on the person’s basic driver’s license or non-driver identification in accordance with procedures prescribed by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.  The holder of a basic driver's license or non-driver identification card who makes the voluntary designation may have the designation removed at any time. 

      The bill requires the commission to establish and maintain an automated Statewide registry accessible by law enforcement officers for the purposes of identifying and effectively communicating with a person who has been diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  The registry is to be capable of storing certain information.   

      Under the bill, a person may submit information to the registry through the commission’s website, by mail, or when completing an application for a driver’s license, motor vehicle registration, or non-driver identification card.  The information provided to the commission for the registry is to only be accessible to commission employees who are designated by the chief administrator to collect and maintain the information and law enforcement officers during a motor vehicle stop or other law enforcement action.  Information submitted to the commission is not to be subject to public disclosure under the Open Public Records Act or to be discoverable as a government record by any person, entity, or governmental agency except in certain circumstances.    The bill requires the Division of State Police, in consultation with the commission and the Department of Human Services, to develop a program to assist and train law enforcement officers to identify and effectively communicate with a person who has been diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  The program is to include training in de-escalation methods when interacting with a person who has been diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury, proper utilization of the registry established pursuant to this bill, and any other information, as recommended by the Commissioner of Human Services, that may be useful to law enforcement officers when interacting with a person who has been diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  The program is to be made available annually to every county and municipal law enforcement agency in the State. 

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

      None received. 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS projects that implementing the bill will result in indeterminate initial development costs and ongoing administrative expenditures for the State for both the driver’s license and identification card designation and the law enforcement training program.  The magnitude of any State cost increase will depend on implementation decisions made by the commission, which the OLS is unable to anticipate.

      Initial State Development Expenditures:  The commission will be responsible for adding a restriction code designating that a person has been diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury on the person’s driver’s license or non-driver identification card.  The designation is intended to assist law enforcement officers or emergency medical personnel with interacting with a person diagnosed with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  The commission has existing staff capable of registration design work, but the changes will consume commission staff hours.  It may be necessary, potentially assisted by the Office of Information Technology, to redesign the software that produces driver’s licenses and identification cards to incorporate the restriction code.  The commission periodically makes change orders of this type, but the OLS does not have access to the cost or nature of these change orders, so it is not possible to determine an estimate from a comparable change order for the various types of alterations that the commission may undertake.  Once the changes have taken effect, it will also likely be necessary for the commission to train staff on the new driver’s license and identification card restriction code, so that staff can provide proper assistance to members of the public that may seek this designation.  Additionally, the input of the required data of an emergency contact and other individualized information of each driver with a traumatic or acquired brain injury may result in additional staff hours for data entry. 

      The Department of Law and Public Safety, in consultation with other departments, comparably will have discretion to determine the form and manner of the law enforcement training procedures to assist law enforcement to better interact with individuals with a traumatic or acquired brain injury.  The training module could take the form of a training video, written materials, or a teaching script that various staff would have to administer directly to law enforcement officers.  Decisions about the design and scope of the training will directly impact the amount of staff time and materials needed to develop the training and the subsequent costs to administer the training. 

      Annual State Expenditures:  The bill’s driver’s license and identification card restriction code may add to annual commission operating expenditures by an indeterminate amount and will depend on the commission’s implementation decisions.  Ongoing costs to the commission will be higher if incorporation of the restriction code requires notable additional data entry or additional customer service time or the production of additional documents.

 

 

Section:

Authorities, Utilities, Transportation and Communications

Analyst:

Michael D. Walker

Associate Fiscal Analyst

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.).