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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Bill to limit specialty plates hits wall in House Transportation Committee

Sen. Jim Hammond pitches his bill to limit specialty license plates to the House Transportation Committee, which killed it; the measure earlier passed the Senate 31-2. (Betsy Russell)
Sen. Jim Hammond pitches his bill to limit specialty license plates to the House Transportation Committee, which killed it; the measure earlier passed the Senate 31-2. (Betsy Russell)

Sen. Jim Hammond's bill to limit future specialty Idaho license plates to those promoting a governmental purpose, SB 1243, has been killed in the House Transportation Committee, after earlier passing the Senate 31-2.

Hammond said other states, like Montana, have seen a proliferation of specialty plates. "They are running into problems trying to get rid of plates that have religious purposes, political purposes," he said. "It's hard to read the number, it's hard to identify the state, and if you can't read the number and identify the state, it's not much value to you if you're a law enforcement agent." Committee members noted that Idaho has imposed a "template" requiring all new specialty plates to follow the state's standard red, white and blue color scheme and design, limiting their special features mostly to a decal. "I think that our template does help the issue," Hammond acknowledged.

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, said, "We currently have a process that is self-limiting. If a plate is not successful and doesn't draw enough prospects, it goes away." Hagedorn said he likes some features of the bill, but said, "I think we're limiting our ability to access voluntary cash that we collect to the department." Specialty plates, he said, "make our customers happy, and ITD makes a little money where we don't have to raise fuel taxes or registration fees." Of the $1.6 million a year raised by specialty plates, he said,  "That's nothing to sneeze at."

Rep. Linden Bateman, R-Idaho Falls, offered the substitute motion to kill the bill. He said of the argument that specialty plates are hard for law enforcement officers to read, "I just can't buy that argument. ... I just think we ought to let different groups that may be interested in having a plate go ahead and do it. I mean, we've got quite a variety now anyway." His motion passed on a strong voice vote.
 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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