Chris Christie Signs 50 Bills Into Law, Changes Driver's License, Motor Vehicle Expiration

TRENTON, NJ — Gov. Chris Christie announced Monday that he's signed 50 new bills into law. He also vetoed one piece of legislation that deals with financial aid.

Christie signed a new law that provides that motor vehicle registrations expire on a registrant’s numerical calendar day of birth. New Jersey driver’s licenses also will now expire every four years, on the driver’s birthday, rather than the last day of the month it was issued.

“We can solve the frustrating lines and delays that damage MVC’s reputation by eliminating the flood of drivers desperate to get things done before the end of the month,” said Republican Assemblyman Anthony Bucco of Morris.

The motor vehicle legislation, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, Passaic; and Sen. Joe Pennacchio, R-Essex, Morris, Passaic, was also intended to shorten lines at Motor Vehicle Commission offices.

“It doesn’t make sense to have everyone’s registration expire at the same time,” Cardinale said. “By staggering expiration dates, we can cut down on congestion and increase efficiency at MVC offices.”

The measure, S-2863, changes the expiration date for vehicle registration from the last day of the 12th month after the registration was issued to the numerical date of the individual’s birthday. Registrations for new vehicles will expire on the person’s numerical day of birth in the 48th month after the registration was issued.

If a person was born on a day that doesn’t match up with a numerical day in the expiring month, like Feb. 29, the registration will expire on the last day of the month.

“Even though MVC offices are open throughout the month, many people still choose to wait until the last minute to renew their registration,” Pennacchio said. “We’ve already taken other steps to improve customer experience at MVC offices. Hopefully this will help our mission to provide our residents with the kind of service they deserve.”

"Requiring New Jersey schools to use a state-specific version of the shopping sheet may cause confusion for students looking to compare New Jersey institutes of higher education against schools outside the state," Christie wrote in his veto letter.

Here are the bills:

BILL SIGNINGS:

• S-169/A-4329 (Bateman/McKeon, Zwicker) - Allows certain emergency squad volunteers holding municipal elective office to vote on emergency squad concerns
• S-452/A-838 (Sacco, Greenstein/Jimenez, Moriarty) - Requires waiver of dealer obligation regarding necessary repairs impacting vehicle inspection to include description of known defects
• S-678/A-4967 (Rice/Watson, Tucker, Caputo) - Requires local government units to certify compliance with certain federal hiring requirements when filing annual budgets
• S-726/A-4460 (Cruz-Perez, Oroho/Jones, Mosquera, Downey, Johnson) – Extends full protection of Law Against Discrimination to persons having liability for service in Armed Forces of United States; guarantees equal employment opportunity in State contracting to all veterans
• S-996wGR/A-1378 (Rice, Van Drew, Turner/Muoio, Benson, Pintor Marin, Quijano, Schaer) – Requires report on status of lead-safe program in DCA
• S-1219/A-936 (Holzapfel, Allen/Wolfe, McGuckin, Oliver, Giblin, Wimberly) - Requires reporting of suspected abuse of institutionalized elderly to police and that facility employees receive notice of reporting requirement annually; designated as "Peggy's Law"
• S-1359/A-4096 (A.R. Bucco, Stack/A.M. Bucco, Vainieri Huttle, McKnight, Mazzeo) - Guarantees full and equal access to all housing to disabled persons who retain their retired service or guide dog as a pet, and who also obtain a new service or guide dog
• S-1497/A-3225 (A.R. Bucco, Pennacchio/Dancer, Clifton, Munoz, A.M. Bucco) - Designates Killed in Action flag as an official State flag; mandates it be displayed at certain public buildings
• SCS for S-1640, 1642, 1013/AS AS ACS for A-3152, 3154, 2426 (Van Drew, Holzapfel, Singer, Turner/Andrzejczak, McGuckin, Land, Wolfe, Vainieri Huttle, Taliaferro, Benson) - Establishes requirements concerning necessary care of dogs, domestic companion animals, and service animals, and for tethering of dogs
• S-1660/A-770 (Van Drew, Cruz-Perez/Andrzejczak, Land, Houghtaling, DeAngelo, Johnson) - Provides for voluntary contributions by taxpayers on gross income tax returns for maintenance of certain State memorials honoring war veterans
• S-1731/A-2368 (Gordon, Allen/Vainieri Huttle) - Permits municipality to establish civil penalty for smoking in public places
• S-1739/A-2167 (Turner, Diegnan/Johnson, Vainieri Huttle, Wimberly) - Establishes sexual assault training requirements for law enforcement officers
• S-1750/A-2729 (Madden, Cruz-Perez/A.M. Bucco, DeAngelo, Space, Mosquera, Wisniewski, DeCroce, Mukherji, Jones) - Establishes special motorcycle license plates for veterans
• S-1808/A-3342 (Van Drew, Diegnan/Karabinchak) - Designates striped bass as NJ State Saltwater Fish; redesignates brook trout as NJ Freshwater Fish
• S-2153/A-3520 (Gordon/Eustace, Sumter, Wimberly, Vainieri Huttle, Johnson) – Requires NJTA to study impact of constructing rail stations at certain park and ride facilities
• S-2369/A-4152 (Whelan, Van Drew, Connors/Andrzejczak, Mazzeo, Land, Burzichelli) - Limits application of DEP shellfish habitat rules for certain dredging activities
• S-2457/A-3999 (Van Drew, Oroho/Houghtaling, Andrzejczak, Mazzeo, Space, Downey) - Enables collection of voluntary contributions for Jersey Fresh Program through gross income tax returns
• S-2578/A-4239 (Cunningham, Pou, Gordon/Sumter, Jasey, Benson, Muoio, Downey, Mukherji) - Revises New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students Loan Program to require applicants first exhaust federal student loans, require income verification, and limit total student loan amounts
• S-2884/A-4484 (Whelan, Greenstein/Eustace, Quijano, Chiaravalloti, Caride) - Declares that deed restrictions or agreements that prevent raising or constructing of a structure to certain flood elevation standards are unenforceable
• S-2892/A-5042 (Sweeney/Giblin) - Exempts certain real estate brokers, broker-salespersons and salespersons from continuing education requirement
• S-3074/A-4586 (Lesniak, Turner/Johnson, Oliver, Holley, Chiaravalloti) - Establishes gubernatorial veto power over Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor's meeting minutes; expands gubernatorial oversight powers over commission
• S-3244/A-4854 (Sweeney, Allen/Singleton, Burzichelli, Taliaferro) - Designates portion of Interstate Highway Route 295 in West Deptford Township as "State Trooper Sean E. Cullen Memorial Highway"
• A-445/S-1661 (Mazzeo, Pinkin, DeAngelo, Chiaravalloti/Van Drew, A.R. Bucco) - Provides for voluntary contributions by taxpayers on gross income tax returns for the NJ World War II Veterans' Memorial Fund
• A-1185/S-2771 (Mosquera, Holley, Moriarty, Quijano/Cruz-Perez, Van Drew) - Requires State Comptroller to report findings of audit compliance reviews
• A-1199/S-1326 (Mosquera, Moriarty, Lagana, Zwicker, Downey/Turner, Oroho) - Permits a victim or witness of any age to testify by closed circuit television under certain circumstances in prosecutions for domestic violence, sexual assault, and certain other crimes
• ACS for A-1690/SCS SCS for S-660, 2002 (Dancer, Singleton, Andrzejczak, Land, Benson, Moriarty, Houghtaling/Turner, Beach, Van Drew) - Allows fire district elections to be moved to November; eliminates certain fire district budget referenda; and eliminates certain fire district capital purchase referenda
• A-1953/S-2448 (Coughlin, Lagana, Muoio, Benson, Houghtaling, Danielsen, Mukherji/Vitale, Whelan) - Allows installment payments for senior and disabled property taxpayers to repay overpayments of homestead credits and homestead property tax reimbursements
• A-1955/SCS for S-1795 (Jones, Lampitt, Phoebus, Space/A.R. Bucco, Oroho) - Provides for voluntary discharge of personal representatives overseeing administration of estates by application to the Surrogate’s Court
• A-2176/S-156 (Taliaferro, Eustace, Benson, Mazzeo, Chiaravalloti/Madden, Ruiz) - Criminalizes possession and sale of alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (alpha-PVP), commonly known as "flakka" or "flocka"
• A-3056/SCS for S-2360, 3030 (Taliaferro, Dancer, Houghtaling, Space, Andrzejczak, Webber/Allen, Greenstein, Bateman, Smith, Wimberly) – Requires DEP to establish voluntary guidelines for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste; extends "Food Bank Good Samaritan Act" immunity protections to public and nonpublic schools.
• A-3058/S-2366 (Space, Taliaferro, Dancer, Houghtaling, Andrzejczak/Oroho, Ruiz) - Establishes Farm to School Coordinating Council
• A-3381 (McKnight, Holley, Vainieri Huttle, Houghtaling, Chiaravalloti, Quijano, Gordon) – Authorizes municipal volunteer programs for free removal of snow from certain residential properties occupied by seniors or disabled persons.
• A-3386/S-2711 (Schaer, Vainieri Huttle, Chiaravalloti, Caride, Mukherji, Wimberly/Vitale, Rice) - Provides protections for children under the age of 18 with developmental disabilities and individuals with developmental disabilities ages 18-21 receiving services from Division of Children's System of Care
• A-3437/S-1076 (DeAngelo, Gusciora, Land, Andrzejczak/Turner) - Designates "Garden State" as State Slogan
• A-3896/S-2790 (Sumter, Mukherji, Pintor Marin/Scutari, Turner) - Concerns sale of certain tires
• A-3908/S-3021 (Mazzeo, DeAngelo, Mukherji, Houghtaling, Quijano/Whelan, T. Kean) - Establishes 9/11 Memorial Registry
• A-3911/S-2863 (Wisniewski, Vainieri Huttle, Mukherji/Cardinale, Pennacchio) - Provides that motor vehicle registration expires on registrant’s numerical calendar day of birth
• A-4164/S-2588 (Houghtaling, Downey, Holley, Muoio, Webber/Van Drew, Cruz-Perez) - Requires State Auditor to annually report on unspent State account balances
• A-4206/S-2676 (Karabinchak, Prieto, Webber, Holley/Diegnan, A.R. Bucco) - Requires candidates for election to school board to file with their nominating petitions specific affirmation that they have not been convicted of crimes that would disqualify them from office
• A-4230/S-3141 (Conaway, O'Scanlon, Mukherji, Pintor Marin/Codey) - Requires health insurance carriers; SHBP, and SEHBP to inform covered persons about organ and tissue donation
• ACS for A-4432/SCS for S-2841 (Schaer, Lampitt, Benson, Singleton, Chiaravalloti, Wimberly/Cunningham) - Provides increased tax credit amounts under Grow New Jersey Assistance Program for certain businesses that have collaborative research relationships with colleges or universities
• A-4542/S-2986 (Mazzeo, Johnson, Land, Andrzejczak, DeCroce/Van Drew) - Designates portion of State Highway Route 55 as "State Trooper Frankie L. Williams Memorial Highway"
• A-4580/S-2989 (Taliaferro, Burzichelli, Quijano, Houghtaling/Lesniak, Oroho) - Appropriates $2,900,000 from "2009 Farmland Preservation Fund" for grants to certain nonprofit organizations for farmland preservation purposes
• A-4581/S-2987 (Houghtaling, Andrzejczak, Singleton, Downey/Cruz-Perez, Oroho) - Appropriates $22,385,743 to State Agriculture Development Committee for farmland preservation purposes
• A-4582/S-2990 (Andrzejczak, Mazzeo, Taliaferro, Zwicker, Houghtaling/Whelan, Van Drew) - Appropriates $32.5 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for county planning incentive grants
• A-4584/S-2988 (Zwicker, Taliaferro, Burzichelli, Houghtaling/Sweeney) - Appropriates $7,500,000 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues for planning incentive grants to municipalities for farmland preservation purposes
• A-4630/S-1938 (Jones/Cruz-Perez) - Repeals law regulating charges assessed by a miller for grinding grain
• A-4673/S-3095 (Houghtaling, Downey/Van Drew) - Concerns assessment of buildings or structures on real property located in certain counties following material depreciation thereof
• A-4713/S-3235 (Burzichelli, Prieto, Gusciora, DeAngelo, Benson/Kyrillos, Whelan) - Designates building where NJEDA is located in memory of Caren Franzini to commemorate her outstanding service to State
• A-4895/S-3056 (Egan, Sumter, Pinkin/Cunningham) - Eliminates UI exemption for interns employed by hospitals

BILL VETOED:

• S-2214/A-3847 (Turner, Cunningham/Lampitt, Mukherji, Johnson, Eustace) - CONDITIONAL - Requires institutions of higher education and proprietary degree-granting institutions to improve transparency of tuition and fees

Patch file photo