The Cuomo administration said it isn’t going forward with a controversial license-plate replacement program after a poll in September showed a majority of New Yorkers oppose it. Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled the program in August, along with an online survey to pick a design for a new license plate. The governor said plates needed to be replaced every 10 years – and drivers had to pay a $25 fee – to accommodate scanners used in cashless tolling.
The poll of 798 New York voters from the Siena College Research Institute found 60% of those surveyed opposed the mandatory replacement and 75% felt the fee was unfair. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
The Department of Motor Vehicles said three million drivers with plates now more than 10 years old would have had to replace them starting in April. The opponents cut across all party and geographic lines, poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said.
The administration began retreating from the plan a week after it was announced: On Aug. 29, DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder said he would negotiate an alternative fee structure and replacement standard with lawmakers.
Source:The Wall Street Journal
