What's happening
This bill limits the additional fee for new license plates to $1.50 above actual cost, replacing the previous $25 cap.
Why it matters
Reduces the maximum extra fee charged to drivers for new license plates. , ensuring the state can only add $1.50 (rounded to the nearest quarter) above the actual manufacturing cost, rather than the previous allowance of up to $25—which can significantly lower out-of-pocket costs for residents.
Improves transparency and fairness in DMV pricing. by tying the additional fee directly to the real cost of producing the plates, making it harder for the state to use license plate issuance as a revenue-raising tool.
May limit the state’s flexibility to cover indirect administrative costs. (like distribution, processing, or plate design changes), potentially requiring these to be funded in other ways or absorbed by the DMV budget.
Could set a precedent for future fee structures on required state services. , signaling to both lawmakers and the public a move toward cost-based, rather than arbitrary, government fees.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Vehicle owners receiving reflectorized plates
The bill would replace the $25 maximum additional plate fee with a cap of $1.50 above the actual cost of the plates, rounded to the nearest 25 cents.
Applicants requesting specific license plates
They would face the revised fee cap, with payment still due upon approval of their request.
Department of Motor Vehicles
The agency would have to administer the cost-based fee cap and could update rules before the bill’s effective date.
Headline styles
Limit License Plate Fees
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to rules
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6746
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
September 25, 2019
Introduced by Sen. JORDAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the payment of charges for the issuance of license plates
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 401 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by section 1 of part H of chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
a. Upon filing of such application and the payment of the fee hereinafter provided, the commissioner shall assign to such motor vehicle a distinctive number and, without expense to the applicant, issue and deliver in such manner as the commissioner may select to the owner a certificate of registration, in such form as the commissioner shall prescribe, and two number plates at a place within the state of New York named by the applicant in his or her application. A number plate, within the meaning of this chapter, may, in the discretion of the commissioner, be a plate of a permanent nature, treated with reflectorized material according to specifications prescribed by the commissioner, and with a date tag attached to such plate or to the vehicle as prescribed by regulations of the commissioner indicating the validity of the plate during a certain period and the issuance of such a number plate with such date tag to a person possessing such a number plate shall be deemed the issuance of a number plate. An additional fee, not to exceed [twenty-five dollars] one dollar and fifty cents above the actual cost of the plates, rounded to the nearest twenty-five cents, shall be paid to the commissioner whenever a set of reflectorized number plates is issued for any vehicle for which a registration fee is normally charged except that, with respect to any number plate which is specifically requested by the applicant, such fee shall be paid to the commissioner upon approval of such request. In the event of the loss, mutilation or destruction of any
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13723-02-9
S. 6746 2
certificate of registration, any number plate or set of number plates whether with or without a date tag or tags, or any date tag or set of date tags provided for in this article, the owner of a registered motor vehicle may file such statement and proof of the facts as the commissioner shall require, with a fee of three dollars, in the office of the commissioner, or, unless and until the commissioner shall otherwise direct, in the office of the agent who issued the certificate, plate, plates, tag or tags and the commissioner or his or her agent, as the case may be, shall issue a duplicate or substitute. It shall be the duty of every owner holding a certificate of registration to notify the commissioner in writing of any change of residence of such person within ten days after such change occurs, and to inscribe on such certificate, in the place provided by the commissioner, a record of such change of residence.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the payment of charges for the issuance of license plates
Purpose
The bill limits the fee for the issuance of a set of license plates.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of section 401 of the Vehicle and Traffic law to set a limit for the issuance of license plates to one dollar and fifty cents above the actual cost of the plates, rounded to the nearest twenty-five cents.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
Justification
Under current law, the Commissioner may charge up to twenty-five dollars for the cost of a set of license plates. This is an arbitrary number set by a past legislature and has no nexus to or justification for the actu- al cost of producing the plates.
Prior to the implementation of the current fee structure in the early 2000s, New York State had a formula in the Vehicle and Traffic Law that was financially sensible and prevented the use of license plates as a new "tax". This system set the fee associated with replacement plates at $1.50 above the cost of the plate, or in other words, the actual cost of manufacturing the plate plus $1.50. This system ensures that every license plate is paid for and that a small fee necessary for the admin- istration of the Department of Motor Vehicles is assessed.
New Yorkers should not have to be burdened with paying a fee that is arbitrarily set and unjustifiable, especially considering that a previ- ous system existed that many New Yorkers today lived under and may be familiar with. New York State is among the highest taxed states in the nation; there is absolutely no reason why something as simple as replac- ing license plates to be more readable should be an excuse for yet another tax on hardworking New Yorkers.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.