Another day at the General Assembly, another bill introduced to create a specialized license plate.
By my rough count, so far in the 12 legislative days since the beginning of session there have been 18 different bills filed in the House and Senate authorizing some special interest group to have a customized NC license plate. Today it was the pro-life crowd and their "Choose Life" plate. Others introduced include: NC Beekeepers, "Old Baldy", Support Soccer and the Horse Council, just to name a few.
A natural question to be asked then is, why is the General Assembly involved in the minute details of deciding which groups are authorized to have special recognition with a license plate? What possibly could be gained by maintaining such tight control, other than well, power. It seems there has to be a better way.
Other states, like Virginia, allow any special interest group with 350 pre-paid applications to order a special plate. It doesn't require these groups to come hat-in-hand to the General Assembly for its blessing.
The state profits $10 extra per specialized plate. Given our current lack of funding for transportation projects, shouldn't the General Assembly just give up its control over the process and adopt a style more like Virginia's? Let any special interest group that has the requisite number of applications apply for, and receive a specialized plate. It frees up the General Assembly from having to be involved and it could create additional revenues for transportation. Seems like a win-win to me.
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