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LINCOLN — Want to spread the word about your favorite charity? Show loyalty to your alma mater? Display pride in the military? Promote your paid or volunteer occupation?
By 2011, you'll have the chance to do so using those two pieces of metal affixed to every vehicle in the state.
Ron Hoffman of the Sesostris Shrine in Lincoln plans to be one of the first in line, with an application for a specialty Shriners plate.
“I'm very happy that we are going to possibly get a Shrine plate,” he said.
Hoffman has been working since 2001 to get approval for a Nebraska Shriners plate.
Former State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha blocked most specialty plate proposals while he was in the Legislature. This year, with Chambers term-limited out of office, state lawmakers approved a bill that shifts responsibility for approving specialty plates to the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
The change opens the door to more diversity on Nebraska's streets and highways.
How much diversity remains to be seen.
Motor Vehicles Department officials said they can't predict how many applications they might see.
“I don't have a sense for how many (interested) organizations there are in the state or how many will be able to put together an application,” said Betty Johnson, state driver and vehicle records administrator.
The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2011. Department of Motor Vehicles officials will take testimony today on rules and regulations to implement the law.
Many groups that failed to get legislative approval for specialty plates previously could apply under the new law.
Applications are allowed from nonprofit groups that serve the community or contribute to the welfare of others and are not offensive or discriminatory in “purpose, nature, activity or name.”
Groups may not promote any specific product or brand name.
And before they apply, they must find 500 people willing to fork out $70 extra for their proposed plates.
Some organizations backing earlier proposals may not pursue plates under the new law.
The law splits the $70 fee from each license between the Motor Vehicles Department (15 percent) and the State Highway Fund (85 percent).
Some groups had wanted license plates to help them raise funds for a cause.
Mark Brohman, director of the Nebraska Environmental Trust, said interest in wildlife plates has cooled considerably among the groups that hoped for plates benefitting protection funds.
A plan to support child abuse prevention with specialty plates likewise has died, according to Kathy Bigsby Moore, executive director of Voices for Children in Nebraska.
The Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighters Association had sought a plate that would support a training fund and would cost less than $70.
Even without those benefits, the association still plans to pursue a specialty plate, said Jerry Stilmock, a lobbyist for the group. He said a firefighters plate has value for the recognition it brings and for safety at an emergency scene.
“We had hoped for something different, but it didn't turn out that way,” he said. “We're happy to have something.”
The requirement to have 500 prepaid applications could be too high of a hurdle for some groups.
“That's a fairly high number,” said Tip O'Neill, a lobbyist for Nebraska's private colleges. “There'd have to be a fairly concerted effort by an organization to get that done.”
Getting collegiate specialty plates might be more enticing if part of the proceeds went toward scholarships, he said.
There is precedent for specialty plate revenue-sharing in Nebraska.
Husker Spirit plates provide financial and academic support for athletes. A fund for those purposes gets 53 percent of the revenue from the plates.
Starting next year, the state will put money from Purple Heart, ex-prisoner of war, Pearl Harbor survivor and disabled veteran plates into a state veteran cemetery fund.
The fund also will benefit from the Gold Star Family plates, which will become available next year.
But lawmakers chose to beef up the state's ailing road-building fund with the new plates. They also raised the cost of message plates to $40, up from $30, with the additional money going into the road fund.
Other states take differing approaches to specialty license plates.
Iowa has about 50 specialty plate options. Some, such as the breast cancer awareness plate and the natural resources plate, raise money for a cause. Revenue from others goes entirely to the state.
Drivers in Virginia and Texas have a few hundred designs to choose from, possibly the largest selection among the states.
Both have plates recognizing various colleges, universities and branches of the military, as well as plates for a variety of causes and organizations. Some provide money for causes.
In Virginia, applications for new types of plates must fit into approved categories, and most must be accompanied by 350 prepaid applications. In Texas, the group applying for a new license must put down an $8,000 deposit. The deposit is returned if 1,900 plates are issued.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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