FILED ON: 6/1/2012

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2299

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Twelve

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An Act to enhance the license plate system of the Commonwealth.

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.  The Registrar of Motor Vehicles shall, subject to appropriation, work in consultation with the Secretary of Public Safety, the Secretary of Transportation, and with officials from the United States Department of Transportation, United States Department of Justice, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and United States Department of Homeland Security to identify and analyze all relevant issues pertaining to the development and implementation of a registration plate system utilizing Enhanced Recognition and Identification Registration Plates; said system using non-alphanumeric symbols as a part of the registration identification for plates issued by the Registrar.  The scope of said study shall include, but not be limited to, the feasibility of such a system, its cost, the time frame for its implementation, its recognition by and interoperability with law enforcement agencies with local, federal, and state jurisdictions, and as between states, the tools and equipment necessary to produce the registration plates utilized by the system.  Said study to assess first; human factors involved including human reaction to numbers, letters, characters and symbols and the ability to cognitively process them and second; transportation-based factors including the impact on tolls and law enforcement, interfaces with state motor vehicle databases, including, without limitation, the Automated License and Registration System, and criminal information system lookups.  The study required by this section is to be peer reviewed by research institutions qualified in the subject area to verify research methodology and conclusions.  Said study, together with legislative recommendations necessary to the development and implementation of such a system, shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives not later than December 31, 2013.    

SECTION 2.  There is hereby established a special task force to undertake the conduct, oversight and review of the study described in section 1 of this Act.  The task force shall consist of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, who shall serve as the chair; the Colonel of the State Police or her designee; a representative of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association; a representative of the Criminal Justice Information Systems; a designee from the Molly Bish Center for Missing and Exploited Children; the Secretary of Administration and Finance or his designee; a representative of the American Automobile Association; a representative of the Massachusetts Correctional Industries; the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security or her designee; a representative of the State Police Association of Massachusetts; and a member of a labor organization representing police officers designated by the Governor. The task force may conduct one or more public hearings to inform the public of its activities.  The task force shall cease to exist five years from the passage of this act, absent any legislative action to extend or modify its operations.