GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
S	1
SENATE BILL 27*

 
 
Short Title:	Commission Contract Agent Study.	()	
Sponsors:	Senator Hoyle.	
Referred to:	Rules and Operations of the Senate.	
February 1, 2001

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO reauthorize THE STUDY OF COMMISSION CONTRACTS FOR THE ISsUANCE OF MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION Plates and certificates.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Commission to Study Commission Contracts for the Issuance of Motor Vehicle Registration Plates and Certificates is created.  The Commission shall consist of 11 members:
(1)	Four Senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and four Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2)	The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint one person currently contracted with the Division of Motor Vehicles to issue registration plates and certificates.
(3)	The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or the Commissioner's designee shall serve as a voting member of the Commission.
SECTION 2.  The President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall designate one Senator as cochair and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall designate one Representative as cochair.
SECTION 3.  The Commission shall:
(1)	Review the history and policies that led to the enactment of G.S. 20‑63(h) providing for contracts for the issuance of registration plates and certificates.
(2)	Study the current implementation and consequences of the provisions of G.S. 20‑63(h).
(3)	Study how registration plates and certificates are issued in other states.
(4)	Study the implications and potential effects on the contract agents of the authority of the Division of Motor Vehicles to use electronic applications and collections authorized in G.S. 20‑63(i).
(5)	Study any other factors it deems relevant related to the use of contract agents for the issuance of registration plates and certificates.
(6)	Make findings and recommendations on improving the services related to the issuance of registration plates and certificates to the citizens of North Carolina while reducing the costs to the State.
SECTION 4.  The Commission shall submit a final report of its findings and recommendations on or before the first day to the 2002 Session of the General Assembly by filing a report with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Upon filing its final report, the Commission shall terminate.
SECTION 5.  The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided for under the provisions of G.S. 120‑19 and G.S. 120‑19.1 through G.S. 120‑19.4.  The Commission may meet at any time upon the call of the cochairs.  The Commission may meet in the State Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building.
SECTION 6.  Legislative members of the Commission shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S. 120‑3.1.  Nonlegislative members shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S.138‑5.
SECTION 7.  The Commission may contract for professional, clerical, or consultant services as provided by G.S. 120‑32.02.  The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Administrative Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist in the work of the Commission.  The House of Representatives' and the Senate's Supervisors of Clerks shall assign clerical staff to the Commission, upon the direction of the Legislative Services Commission.  The expenses relating to clerical employees shall be borne by the Commission.
SECTION 8.  When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the Commission, the vacancy shall be filled by the same appointing officer who made the initial appointment.
SECTION 9.  All State departments and agencies and local governments and their subdivisions shall furnish upon request to the Commission any information in their possession or available to them.
SECTION 10.  The Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation, in consultation and cooperation with the commission contract agents, shall conduct a comprehensive and updated productivity study of all transactions and other activity in contract agencies.  The Division, in consultation and cooperation with the agents, shall utilize this data to develop a detailed proposal for compensating agents based on the tasks they undertake.  The proposal shall include a mechanism to adjust the schedule periodically to account for inflation. The Division shall submit its proposal to the Commission on or before October 1, 2001.
SECTION 11.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the General Assembly the sum of twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the 2001‑2002 fiscal year for the expenses of the Commission.
SECTION 12.  This act is effective when it becomes law.