Office of Legislative Services
State House Annex
P.O. Box 068
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Legislative Budget and Finance Office
Phone (609) 847-3105
Fax (609) 777-2442
www.njleg.state.nj.us
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
SENATE, No. 1297
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: OCTOBER 18, 2024
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Requires MVC to create mobile driver’s licenses and identification
cards.
Type of Impact: State expenditure increase; State revenue increase.
Agencies Affected: New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Years 1-3 Year 4 and After
State Expenditure Increase Indeterminate Indeterminate
State Revenue Increase No Impact Indeterminate
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that the State will incur indeterminate start-up
costs to create and issue mobile driver’s licenses or identification cards, including the costs to
design these electronic documents and other costs associated with information technology
changes that such electronic documents will require. Because the OLS is unable to predict how
the program will be implemented, does not have information about associated information
technology hardware and software costs, and notes that the bill will not take effect until three
years after enactment, the cost and revenue estimates for the bill, as well as their timing, are
indeterminate.
Beginning three years after the date of enactment, the bill would also result in indeterminate
costs for the issuance of the mobile driver’s licenses or mobile identification cards as well as
any continuing information technology costs associated with the maintenance of the mobile
driver’s license or mobile identification card system. These costs will be offset to a certain
degree by annual revenues collected by the Motor Vehicle Commission for the electronic
documents. The OLS is unable to determine the likely amounts of these revenues because the
bill gives the commission discretion in setting fees for the mobile driver’s licenses or mobile
identification cards, so long as the fees are reasonable.
FE to S1297 [1R]
2
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill requires the commission to create and issue a mobile driver’s license or mobile
identification card to any individual who requests such electronic documentation in addition to the
printed, hard-copy version. The commission is authorized to charge and collect a reasonable fee
for the issuance of mobile driver’s licenses or mobile identification cards.
The bill requires the commission to include features that ensure the security and integrity of
the documents and to prevent and detect the alteration, duplication, counterfeiting, photographing,
forging, or other modification of the electronic documents. The bill allows the holders of a mobile
driver’s license or mobile identification card to update motor vehicle records and provides that the
changes are to immediately become part of their motor vehicle record.
The bill is to take effect 36 months after enactment.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS concludes that the creation of mobile driver’s licenses and identification cards by the
commission will result in an indeterminate one-time design cost and annual issuance and
information technology costs as well as indeterminate annual State revenues. Under the bill, it is
possible that the commission would not begin to issue the mobile licenses and identification cards
until three years after the date of enactment. Accordingly, while the commission would incur
increased up-front implementation costs before this time, annual increases in commission expenses
and revenues are not expected to occur until after the third year following the date of enactment.
The cost of creating the mobile driver’s licenses or identification cards cannot be determined
without more information about how the program will be implemented and how much
implementation of the program may cost three years after enactment. The annual administrative
cost of the program is similarly unable to be determined and will also depend on the number of
individuals applying for a mobile driver’s license or mobile identification card.
The bill includes a requirement that the commission include features that ensure the security
and integrity of the electronic documents and that a process be in place to prevent and detect certain
alterations, counterfeiting, and other modifications of the electronic documents. These
requirements will result in an indeterminate one-time cost to design and produce documents with
the required security features as well as ongoing annual costs to ensure the security and integrity
of the documents as well as detection of various modifications of the documents.
A number of other states have implemented or started to consider digital driver’s licenses with
costs varying for each state. For example, Iowa sought to implement digital driver’s licenses in
2018 with an estimated cost at that time of $3.5 million. It is also reported that Florida has a $1.8
million contract with a company to develop a smartphone identification application. It is unclear
if these are final costs for development and implementation of these programs or whether they
would be comparable to the costs the State would incur under the bill.
FE to S1297 [1R]
3
The annual revenue produced by mobile driver’s licenses and mobile identification cards
cannot be determined at this time, largely in part due to the uncertain nature of the number of
applicants and the amount of the fee that the commission may charge for the electronic documents.
The amount of the fee is entirely within the discretion of the commission, so long as the fee is
reasonable.
Section: Authorities, Utilities, Transportation and Communications
Analyst: Michael D. Walker
Associate Fiscal Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).