Gov. Andrew Cuomo said state legislators were free to change the state law that mandates fees to replace a vehicle’s license plates.

Some state legislators want to do just that.

A proposal in the state Senate would add license plate inspections to a vehicle’s annual safety inspection and waive fees to replace the license plates if they fail inspection.

Sen. James Tedisco, R-Glenville, introduced S.6744 on Sept. 25. The legislation is co-sponsored by fellow Republicans George Amedore Jr., Phil Boyle, Chris Jacobs, Daphne Jordan, Robert Ortt and Patty Ritchie.

It would amend the state Vehicle and Traffic Law to add a visual inspection of license plates and establish standards for a satisfactory license plate. The fee to perform a vehicle inspection will not be changed. The proposal also waives fees for license plates if plates have to be replaced because of a change in license plate designs or if the plate has to be replaced because of a failed inspection.

“For the second time since 2009, a proposal to redesign New York state’s license plates was accompanied by an additional $25 fee, and an additional $20 fee for New Yorkers who wanted to keep their current license plate numbers,” Tedisco wrote in his legislative justification. “This License Plate Tax is truly highway robbery for the overtaxed and overburdened taxpayers of New York state in the form of a new $70 million windfall for state coffers. This does not even consider additional revenue the state would receive from those who want to keep their current plate number. This bill takes a holistic approach to address the need for readable plates on the roadways with a mechanism for visual inspection, while sparing motorists a $25 plate replacement fee, and the additional $20 to keep the same plate number by eliminating fees for new plates.”

Tedisco’s legislation has been referred to the Senate’s Rules Committee.

Another proposal by state Sen. Fred Akshar, R-Endwell, would mandate that the cost of new license plates be held to the amount it actually costs the state to manufacture new license plates. His legislation, S.6693, was introduced Sept. 6 and referred to the Senate’s Rules Committee.

In addition to setting the price of a license plate at or below the actual cost to manufacture the plates, Akshar’s legislation would prevent additional fees for drivers to keep the same license plate number in the event of a design change and requires the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to provide an annual report detailing the cost to make license plates starting in 2023.

Several times, including during a late August appearance on WAMC radio in New York City, Cuomo said the fees were set by the state Legislature in 2009 and told legislators they were welcome to come back into session to change state law.

Other legislation was proposed by Sen. Robert Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, that would waive the $25 fee associated with new license plates.

“So I didn’t set the $25, it’s been there since before I was governor. A Democratic senator said it. I said, ‘You passed it, it’s your fault.’ You want to come back in a special session and change it? Come tomorrow. I welcome you,” Cuomo said, according to an Aug. 29 story in the New York Post.