Friends of NRA license plate design narrowly passes Idaho Senate

BOISE – A North Idaho lawmaker’s bill to create a specialty license plate to benefit the Friends of the NRA squeaked through the Idaho Senate on Tuesday.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, earlier passed the House by a wide margin. It now goes to the governor’s desk.

Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, said he objected to the plate’s design. While its identified mission is to promote education about firearms, the design shows an outline of the state of Idaho with bold-faced letters “NRA,” and the words “Friends of” in small type above the letters. Additionally, instead of “Famous Potatoes,” the plate says “TEACH FREEDOM,” the slogan of the NRA Foundation.

Sen. Lori Den Hartog, a Meridian Republican, said she supports Second Amendment rights but doesn’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.”

Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said he thinks the NRA Foundation plate is “a worthy cause.” Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, argued that specialty plates raise money for the state highway fund as well as their sponsoring organizations. 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.