Bill Text: NY A04994 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Authorizes issuance of distinctive number plates to members of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-05 - held for consideration in transportation [A04994 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A04994-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4994
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 6, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. GIGLIO -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Transportation
        AN  ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing
          the issuance of distinctive plates for members of the Seneca Nation of
          Indians
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Legislative  findings. The legislature finds and declares
     2  that the sovereign territory  of  the  Seneca  Nation  of  Indians  (the
     3  Nation)  lies  completely  within  the state of New York and as such the
     4  relationship between the state and the Nation is governed by  a  complex
     5  set  of  rules  based  upon  various state statutes, signed treaties and
     6  agreements that have resulted over time from the  1794  signing  of  the
     7  Treaty of Canandaigua. It is this treaty that the United States acknowl-
     8  edged the Nation's independence and sovereignty.
     9    A  most  recent  agreement, known as the 1976 Southern Tier Expressway
    10  Agreement, was entered into between the Nation and the  New  York  state
    11  Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The 1976 Agreement was predicated
    12  on  chapter 962 of the laws of 1973 in which lands of the Allegany state
    13  park were transferred from the office of parks, recreation and  historic
    14  preservation  to  the Seneca Nation of Indians in lieu of lands acquired
    15  by the state as rights of way for the Southern Tier Expressway.
    16    One of the terms agreed to by the Nation included New York state issu-
    17  ing members of the Nation distinctive motor vehicle license plates. This
    18  legislation acknowledges the unique, historical and  vital  relationship
    19  that  the  Seneca  Nation  of  Indians  has held with New York state and
    20  specifically authorizes the department of motor vehicles to develop  and
    21  implement  a  series  of specially numbered license plates to members of
    22  the Seneca Nation.
    23    § 2. Section 404 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a
    24  new subdivision 1-b to read as follows:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05748-01-7
        A. 4994                             2
     1    1-b. (a) The commissioner shall issue special number plates to  appli-
     2  cants who are members of the Seneca Nation of Indians in the same manner
     3  as other number plates are issued pursuant to this article. Such special
     4  number  plates  shall  be  issued  (i)  free of charge and only upon the
     5  payment  of  the  regular  registration  fee  prescribed by section four
     6  hundred one of this article, and (ii) upon submission of  proof,  satis-
     7  factory to the commissioner, that the applicant is presently a member of
     8  the  federally recognized Indian Tribe, Seneca Nation of Indians; one of
     9  the historic six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy who occupy lands  in
    10  western New York as set aside by the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794. Such
    11  membership shall be verified annually by the applicant.
    12    (b)  Any  Seneca  Nation  Indian  residing  in  this state shall, upon
    13  request, be issued a "Seneca Nation of Indians" specially designated and
    14  numbered plate of a design approved by the commissioner. Application for
    15  such plates shall be made in accordance with regulations promulgated  by
    16  the commissioner with respect to the issuance of such plates.
    17    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    18  it shall have become a law.