Pro-troops license plate approved

BOISE – Idaho drivers could buy “Support Our Troops” specialty license plates under a bill passed by the House on Thursday.

Money from the $35 plates, available in 2008, would help fund Support Our Troops Inc., a nonprofit organization that supports military families. The funds would provide emergency food, shelter and medical assistance, said Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene.

The House voted 61-4 to pass the bill, which requires Gov. Butch Otter’s signature to become law.

The new plate would resemble the standard red, white and blue Idaho plate, but would feature silhouettes of a soldier and a child in front of a U.S. flag on the left side.

Idaho already offers dozens of plate options that support causes from the Boy Scouts of America to Idaho Capitol renovation. Forty-five states have already created “Support Our Troops” plates, and the remaining five are expected to authorize them this year, according to the statement of purpose for the measure, Senate Bill 1131.

Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Wallace, said lawmakers should support the plate “no matter how we stand on the war issue.” While Shepherd could “already hear the sighs” of legislators when discussing a new plate, she said it “should sell well throughout the state.”

Chaired in Idaho by Debbie Field, head of Otter’s Office of Drug Policy, the troops organization hopes to raise $75,000 to $100,000 yearly through sales of plates and other items, Nonini said. He’s confident it will surpass minimum selling requirements and become a permanent plate, he said.

Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, opposed the bill, saying he’s always voted against new plates. He contended that the state doesn’t control where money generated by plate sales winds up.

Clark also objected because nonmilitary drivers cannot buy other Idaho military plates, but “draft dodgers” and war objectors could purchase “Support Our Troops” plates.