S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  7246

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 29, 2015
                               ___________

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.
  S 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.
                                                           LBD06028-01-5
              

A. 7246                             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.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law.