Special license plate to benefit ‘Friends of NRA’ barely squeaks through Idaho Senate

BOISE – A North Idaho lawmaker’s bill to create a new specialty license plate to benefit the “Friends of the NRA” barely squeaked through the Idaho Senate on Tuesday, passing on a narrow 18-15 vote. The bill, HB 16, sponsored by Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, earlier passed the House 61-8; it now goes to the governor’s desk. But senators were far less supportive of the measure. Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, said the design of the plate didn’t match the identified mission, promoting education about firearms; it just shows an outline of the state of Idaho with bold-faced letters “NRA,” and the words “Friends of” in small type above the letters; the plate also has a slogan on it, “TEACH FREEDOM,” in place of the standard Idaho license plate slogan, “Famous Potatoes.” It’s the slogan of the NRA Foundation. Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said, “While I’m a supporter of 2nd Amendment rights and I believe the work that the Friends of the NRA is doing as a foundation is good work, I don’t believe it’s an appropriate role for the state to act as a fundraising agent for a private nonprofit.” And Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, told the Senate he opposes all specialty license plates. “We have a plethora of them,” he said. “Half the time they go away because they never get enough support.” He questioned which group would get a specialty plate next, suggesting Planned Parenthood, the Daughters of the American Revolution or others. “In other states we’ve seen them cause some pretty deep embarrassment for some of the causes that come forward,” Werk said. Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said, “There was a license plate that the NRA had in the past and it was not successful, and it’s off the books. But this is the NRA Foundation. … I think this is a good license plate, one that I hope will continue.” Nonini told the Senate, “I think it’s a worthy cause.” Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, argued that specialty plates raise “voluntary” contributions for the state highway fund, along with raising money for the organizations that sponsor them. The Idaho Transportation Department reports that the fund got $1.1 million in fees from specialty license plates last year. Ten Republicans and five Democrats voted against the bill in the Senate. It’s now up to Gov. Butch Otter whether to sign the bill into law or veto it.