S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4994
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             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:
 
   Section  1.  Legislative  findings. The legislature finds and declares
 that the sovereign territory  of  the  Seneca  Nation  of  Indians  (the
 Nation)  lies  completely  within  the state of New York and as such the
 relationship between the state and the Nation is governed by  a  complex
 set  of  rules  based  upon  various state statutes, signed treaties and
 agreements that have resulted over time from the  1794  signing  of  the
 Treaty of Canandaigua. It is this treaty that the United States acknowl-
 edged the Nation's independence and sovereignty.
   A  most  recent  agreement, known as the 1976 Southern Tier Expressway
 Agreement, was entered into between the Nation and the  New  York  state
 Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The 1976 Agreement was predicated
 on  chapter 962 of the laws of 1973 in which lands of the Allegany state
 park were transferred from the office of parks, recreation and  historic
 preservation  to  the Seneca Nation of Indians in lieu of lands acquired
 by the state as rights of way for the Southern Tier Expressway.
   One of the terms agreed to by the Nation included New York state issu-
 ing members of the Nation distinctive motor vehicle license plates. This
 legislation acknowledges the unique, historical and  vital  relationship
 that  the  Seneca  Nation  of  Indians  has held with New York state and
 specifically authorizes the department of motor vehicles to develop  and
 implement  a  series  of specially numbered license plates to members of
 the Seneca Nation.
   § 2. Section 404 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a
 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-B. (A) THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ISSUE SPECIAL NUMBER PLATES TO  APPLI-
 CANTS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE SENECA NATION OF INDIANS IN THE SAME MANNER
 AS OTHER NUMBER PLATES ARE ISSUED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE. SUCH SPECIAL
 NUMBER  PLATES  SHALL  BE  ISSUED  (I)  FREE OF CHARGE AND ONLY UPON THE
 PAYMENT  OF  THE  REGULAR  REGISTRATION  FEE  PRESCRIBED BY SECTION FOUR
 HUNDRED ONE OF THIS ARTICLE, AND (II) UPON SUBMISSION OF  PROOF,  SATIS-
 FACTORY TO THE COMMISSIONER, THAT THE APPLICANT IS PRESENTLY A MEMBER OF
 THE  FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBE, SENECA NATION OF INDIANS; ONE OF
 THE HISTORIC SIX TRIBES OF THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY WHO OCCUPY LANDS  IN
 WESTERN NEW YORK AS SET ASIDE BY THE TREATY OF CANANDAIGUA OF 1794. SUCH
 MEMBERSHIP SHALL BE VERIFIED ANNUALLY BY THE APPLICANT.
   (B)  ANY  SENECA  NATION  INDIAN  RESIDING  IN  THIS STATE SHALL, UPON
 REQUEST, BE ISSUED A "SENECA NATION OF INDIANS" SPECIALLY DESIGNATED AND
 NUMBERED PLATE OF A DESIGN APPROVED BY THE COMMISSIONER. APPLICATION FOR
 SUCH PLATES SHALL BE MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATIONS PROMULGATED  BY
 THE COMMISSIONER WITH RESPECT TO THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH PLATES.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
 it shall have become a law.