Lawmaker calls for return of vehicle registration stickers
State Rep. Barry Jozwiak, a Bern Township Republican, has introduced legislation to require PennDOT to bring back vehicle registration stickers to help the state agency’s financial crisis and law enforcement with investigations.
“Issuing the registration expiration sticker on the license plate will ensure that all vehicles in the commonwealth are properly registered and insured and will restore the lost revenue that PennDOT claims it so desperately needs,” Jozwiak, a former state trooper and Berks County sheriff, said in a memorandum to lawmakers.
Rep. Tim Hennessey, a Ches
ter County Republican and chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said Jozwiak’s bill makes logical sense, noting that PennDOT seems resistant to resume using the stickers.
“We saw a significant drop off in registrations,” Hennessey said. “A police officer can tell in advance if a car is registered by the stickers.”
Hennessey said the committee is likely to vote on the bill at a meeting Tuesday and he anticipates it will pass and move on to the House.
In November, PennDOT predicted an $8.1 billion loss in revenues in the 2021 fiscal year, primarily due to the loss of gas tax revenues with fewer motorists driving during the COVID pandemic. The money is needed to pay for highway and bridge repairs, officials said.
The agency launched a Pathways project aimed at finding new ways to raise revenues. The first initiative is to set up tolls on nine bridges, including the Lenhartsville Bridge of Interstate 78 in Greenwich Township.
Jozwiak said in his memorandum to lawmakers that PennDOT lost an estimated $51 million in the last three years due to motorists failing to register.
Jozwiak arrived at the amount of the revenue loss by identifying the total number of decreased registrations by the cost per registration.
PennDOT’s stance
Diego Sandino, PennDOT spokesman, said in a threepage, single spaced e-mail response to questions by the Reading Eagle that PennDOT does not plan to bring back the stickers, and that law enforcement has not requested the agency to do so.
PennDOT provided these reasons for not bringing back the stickers:
• Reverses modernization initiative for customers.
• Takes away customer convenience.
• Increases cost to do business.
• Eliminates savings. PennDOT also noted that with the pandemic it was able to renew registrations online without the need to mail a sticker, while the other states that mail stickers experienced backlogs of registrations.
Sandino said the elimination of stickers was included in a 2013 transportation law, known as Act 89, in response to a request from Legislature to identify ways to reduce costs and enhance customer service.
PennDOT eliminated the stickers, effective Jan. 1, 2017, with the hope of saving $1.2 million a year in costs while still collecting the fees.
Sandino said the agency actually raised $11.7 million in the three years by eliminating the stickers, resulting in savings.
Motorists pay a $38 annual fee to PennDOT for vehicle registration. They can pay in advance for two years. The registration and proof of insurance are required for an annual vehicle inspection.
Sandino said there is no empirical data to suggest there is a correlation between use or elimination of license plate stickers and compliance with the registration requirement and fees collected.
Registration numbers and fees collected are fluid from day to day, and the data presented in PennDOT’s annual report represents a snapshot.
According to PennDOT’s annual reports, these are the number of registrations:
• 2016, before stickers were eliminated: 12.07 million
• 2017: 11.82 million
• 2018: 12.04 million
• 2019: 12.01 million
• 2020: 12.01 million
Not the first time
Jozwiak said he has been pressing to bring back the stickers for two years and is hopeful the new law will be signed within a year.
Jozwiak said consumers have faced challenges while traveling out of state from law enforcement officials expecting to see a current sticker on the Pennsylvania license plate.
Jozwiak introduced a similar bill last year that included one sticker for a vehicle registration and inspection. The bill passed the committee by a vote of 196, but was not voted on in the House.
The new bill with 40 sponsors was introduced Jan. 29 to the House Transportation Committee.
“The absence of the expiration stickers has hindered the performance of both law enforcement and PennDOT,” Jozwiak said.
PennDOT said Connecticut, New Jersey and Quebec eliminated license plate stickers years before Pennsylvania and bills are being introduced in Michigan, Nebraska and Utah to do the same.
Rep. Mark Gillen, a Robeson Township Republican who is co-sponsoring the bill, said the return of the stickers would help with lost revenues and provide a tool for law enforcement.
“The sticker is a friendly reminder to get your registration renewed,” he said. “It’s a visual that serves as a reminder.”
Gillen said the change was part of Title 75, a comprehensive update on driver safety.
Rep. Jerry Knowles, a Schuylkill County Republican who covers portions of Berks, said the stickers are a helpful tool for law enforcement.
Knowles said he voted against removing the stickers in 2013.
Knowles noted it’s easy to misplace the registration bill or forget to pay it.
“We are losing out because people are not renewing their registration,” he said.
Police support
Law enforcement officers would like the stickers back because they provide police with a reason to stop a vehicle. During the stop, police could find other criminal activity.
Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said he supports Jozwiak’s bill because he believes fewer people are registering now.
Exeter Township police Sgt. David Bentz, who also is Berks County coordinator for the North Central Regional DUI Enforcement program, said lots of people are not renewing their registrations.
“People just don’t remember,” he said. “I fully support returning the stickers.”
Bentz noted some police departments have license-plate readers, which are expensive high-speed computer devices that are placed on the roof of a police vehicle to identify license plates and indicate if the vehicle is registered.
He noted it’s not practical for all police to buy the license plate readers, so it makes sense to bring back the stickers.
Adams said his office has invested in license plate readers because they are a great tool to combat drug trafficking in Berks.
South Heidelberg Township Police Chief Leon Grim said the township purchased a license plate reader in September 2019 for about $18,000 and began using it in January 2020.
“It helps immensely because it reads the plates immediately and you can tell immediately if a vehicle is stolen,” Grim said.
He said on the first day of using the license plate reader, a suspect was arrested for driving a stolen vehicle.
In the first year, Grim said, using the reader resulted in 100 tickets for driving with an expired registration.
He also said the officers will often give a verbal warning to explain the necessity for registering the vehicle.
The first time a ticket is issued for driving with an unregistered vehicle the fine is $25. It increases to $75 if it is not paid in 90 days.
Grim said he is grateful the township bought the reader and acknowledged it’s not practical to install them in all vehicles because the cost is so high.
He said he supports Jozwiak’s bill to reinstate the stickers because it’s much easier for officers to stop a vehicle for driving with an expired registration by looking at the plate rather than randomly checking license plates on computers in their vehicles.
Sandino noted police departments are adding license plate readers.
He also noted state troopers check vehicle registration through mobile office software in their patrol vehicles.
The stickers, Sandino said, can be stolen, transferred from one vehicle to another or become invalid.