SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2036        FILED ON: 1/16/2009

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1913

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to license renewal notifications..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.   Chapter 90 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 10 the following section:- 

Section 10B. The registrar shall provide notification to each person who has a current and valid license to operate motor vehicles issued by the registrar of the expiration date previously established for such license and that the license may be renewed subject to qualification.  In addition, the notification shall provide information as determined by the registrar of the requirements and qualifications to renew such license. The registrar shall make such notification not less than 30 days or greater than 90 days prior to the expiration date of such license.  Such notification shall be sent by mail to the person so licensed at the last address listed in the records at the registry for such person.  Notwithstanding, the failure of a person to receive such notification from the registrar shall not be a defense to any charged violation of the operation of a motor vehicle without a valid license pursuant to this chapter.

SECTION 2.  The registrar of motor vehicles and his authorized agents shall collect a fee of 50 cents as a special assessment for every initial license to operate motor vehicles issued by the registrar and for every renewal of such license by the registrar occurring thereafter.  The assessment shall be collected, in addition to any other fees required to be collected by the registrar and his authorized agents under any general or special law, upon the issuance of each such initial license to operate motor vehicles and upon each such renewal thereafter, from each licensee.

There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the RMV License Expiration Notification Fund, hereinafter referred to as “Notification Fund”.  Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, all assessment fees collected under the foregoing paragraph shall be credited to the Notification Fund together with any revenue derived from the investment of the monies in said fund.

Amounts credited to the Notification Fund shall be made available, without further appropriation, to the registry of motor vehicles. The registrar of motor vehicles shall be authorized to expend such monies solely for administrative costs related to the mailing and printing of license expiration notifications required to be sent by the registrar to persons licensed to operate motor vehicles in accordance with section 10B of chapter 90;  and, subject to the further restriction that no monies from said fund shall be used for any personnel related costs or expenses, to include without limitation any costs assessed pursuant to the provisions of section 5D of chapter 29. 

Any money remaining in such fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund or any other account.  No expenditure or obligation for expenditure, from the Notification Fund shall be made to cause said fund at any time to become deficient. 

The registrar shall prepare and submit to the secretary of administration and finance a monthly accounting report summarizing the receipts and expenses related to said fund; and provided, that each such monthly report shall be submitted no later than 30 days after the last day of the month being reported.