Committee Advances Kean’s E-Driver’s License Legislation

On Feb 9, 2015

The Senate Transportation Committee passed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean to require the state Motor Vehicle Commission to study and make recommendations about implementing electronic driver’s licenses and mobile applications.

“Whenever feasible we must bring public services directly to where the people are, whether that’s social media or mobile phones,” said Kean (R-Union, Somerset, Morris). “An e-driver’s license will be more convenient for the vast majority of residents, while making one of the most-used government services more efficient and less costly.”

Senator Kean said that the ideal e-driver’s license program in New Jersey, resulting from Senate Bill 2695, would allow people to still use traditional plastic licenses if they want.

“People are literally attached to their phones, with many of us opting to use mobile forms of payment, banking and credit,” Kean said. “New Jersey should be at the forefront of new technology and innovation in the safest way possible. We have an opportunity to be ahead of the curve in this instance and learn from and with Iowa and Delaware, which are aggressively working toward implementing e-driver’s licenses.”

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Nicholas Sacco (D-Bergen, Hudson) is co-prime sponsor of S-2695.

Senator Kean also sponsors SCR-126, which dedicates all New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) surplus moneys to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). In recent years, that surplus has been about $400 million per year and can be an even more significant annual funding source for the TTF as the MVC and its services become more efficient and technologically advanced with initiatives, such as the potential implementation of e-driver’s licenses.

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