Lawmakers have long joked and criticized the inconsequential bills. Until this year, they also were unwilling to stop spending time on them.
. There are plates with the National Rifle Association’s logo, pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness, various military insignias and the Freemasons’ compass and square. There’s even one specifically for theThese plates tend to originate with special interests or nonprofits. They find a sympathetic lawmaker to draft a specialty license plate bill for their cause.
Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick of Eagle River is the latest lawmaker to try to let the DMV handle specialty license plate requests without the Legislature’s involvement through her “It saves money by passing the costs of developing and issuing plates on to the organization, rather than spending state dollars.”“Chair, the Legislature has many significant issues to focus our attention on,” she said. “While the organizations that come to us requesting specialty plates are worthwhile, license plate legislation takes up precious time.”
“And every year, it just kept getting more and more frustrating that we would be debating a bill on a license plate rather than focusing onKawasaki, by the way, has a specialty license plate on his own car, one of 60 specifically for state legislators. They’re numbered according to seniority. He has a Senate plate with the number five. “I was in the minority for 10 years in the House,” Kawasaki said. “It was hard to pass legislation with my own name on it.
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