S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5723
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. GIGLIO, LAWRENCE, B. MILLER, MORINELLO -- 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.
              

                                                            LBD06897-01-9

 A. 5723                             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.