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Specialty license plates cater to many interests
By Mike Riopell
mike.riopell@lee.net
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SPRINGFIELD -- They’re kind of like a more expensive, more durable bumper sticker. Every year, lawmakers approve a bevy of specialty license plates drivers can opt for instead of the Land of Lincoln standards.

Having one will cost you more and, even if lawmakers approve them, the plates don’t even go into production unless hundreds of people ask for them.

Nevertheless, new specialty plates pop up every year.

This year lawmakers voted for more than a dozen bills to create new plates for various groups — sheet metal workers, autism advocates and Iraq war veterans, for example.

State Sen. John Jones, R-Mount Vernon, sponsored a new plate this year for veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

He said the idea came from a veteran who had seen license plates for other causes and asked one simple question: “Why can’t we have one?”

Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the bill into law last week. The specialty plates are pricier, but a majority of the extra cost often goes to a special state fund to help the groups the plates represent.

A typical license plate costs $78, and a specialty one could tack on about $40. Often, about $25 of that would go to a special fund.

Not everyone likes specialty plates.

State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said he has voted against every one since the mid-1990s. There are 60 in production now, according to Secretary of State Jesse White’s office.

Now, 800 people have to ask for a plate before it can be produced, but White’s office wants to raise that threshold to 1,500 soon, according to spokesman Henry Haupt.

Rutherford agrees that supporting the causes are a good idea, but argues for a different way of handling the idea: It calls for one standard charitable plate, with a special sticker that could be affixed to it to represent the particular cause.

He argues that method would prevent police officers from having to squint to decipher what kind of plate a driver has, occasionally making mistakes.

“It’s become so silly because I know there’s a way to address it,” he said.

Unlike Rutherford, lawmakers often put up little opposition to new ideas for specialty plates.

State Rep. Bob Flider’s idea this year had some trouble, though.

The Mount Zion Democrat wanted to create a license plate especially for NASCAR fans. But he ran into trouble from lawmakers who thought it was a bad idea for the state to endorse a private company in such a way.

The plan was defeated on the House floor in March by lawmakers who Flider claims were over-thinking the plan. He said he’ll try again.

“I’ve been contacted by NASCAR enthusiasts asking about when the plates will be available,” he said.

A pick of plates

Here is a sampling of some of the groups represented by specialty Illinois license plates approved this year:

• Rotary Club

• Special Olympics

• Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans

• Disabled veterans

• Sheet metal workers

• Illinois PGA Junior Golf

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Reader comments on this story - 9 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Remember wrote on Sep 1, 2007 6:50 PM:

" when they told us that multi-year plates were going to be cheaper than getting new plates every year? We're from the government and we're here to help you. Uh-huh. "

Union Firefighter wrote on Sep 1, 2007 3:13 PM:

" How about a plate for citizens against Gov. Rod Blagojevich "

Reality wrote on Sep 1, 2007 6:48 AM:

" Need one plate for the majority of us, "SUCKER" because we keep voting and paying these jokers to go to Springfield and bleed us dry w/taxes! "

I think... wrote on Aug 31, 2007 9:43 PM:

" they should make a plate just for the cops that is white with black letters, reflective, and easy to read. have you seen some of these plates nowadays? "

No front plate wrote on Aug 31, 2007 9:24 PM:

" Get rid of it. "

sweet wrote on Aug 31, 2007 7:56 PM:

" I want a money green plate to symbolize how much my suv cost.I love it and i'm king of the road. "

Rod Serling wrote on Aug 31, 2007 5:19 PM:

" Every year, lawmakers approve a bevy of specialty license plates drivers can opt for instead of the Land of Lincoln standards. Rewrite:Every year,a bevy of lawmakers approve the stamping out of specialty license plates drivers can opt for instead of the Land of Lincoln standards. "

The Joker wrote on Aug 31, 2007 5:14 PM:

" They already do. Passenger vehicle, truck, trailer, RV, etc. "

Just A Guy wrote on Aug 31, 2007 3:46 PM:

" How about having one kind of plate for each classification of vehicles? "
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