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Specialty license plates going 'out of control' State police say they are difficult to read Monday, February 26, 2001 By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG -- The otter on certain state license plates made a splash. The tiger on others gained a following. Who can argue with DARE's anti-drug message?
But a plate for recipients of Expeditionary Forces medals? Two proposals for anti-abortion plates? And another for state legislators, if they get their way?
The proliferation of special state license plates has "gotten out of control," said state Sen. Allen Kukovich, D-Manor.
More than 70 specialty state license plates exist. Vehicle owners pay a bit extra to get them.
Many state lawmakers want even more, and they won't seem to take no for an answer.
Gov. Tom Ridge in 1996 vetoed a transportation bill that would have created 24 new specialty license plates. It would cost the state money to manufacture more, Ridge said at the time.
Legislators ignored him. Three months ago, a bill that passed hours before lawmakers adjourned for the year included provisions for another dozen new specialty plates. Ridge quickly slapped a veto on that one, too.
Undaunted, many state House members are still pushing on.
Last year's bill would have created special license plates for, among others, veterans of the Gulf War, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and even those who received an Expeditionary Forces medal. Here's a hint why: Veterans vote.
"I think it's quintessential Pennsylvania, with the confluence of special interests and localism and activism. The Legislature is primed and ready to respond to that," said Mike Young, a political scientist at Penn State's Harrisburg campus. "It's constituent service. They get their names out there and they are rewarded at the polls."
Other specialty plates last year would have honored young hunters and anglers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, animal protection organizations and groups that help children. A conquer-cancer plate also was proposed.
Legislators even tried to get a plate for themselves.
The bill would have forced the state Department of Transportation to design and distribute special plates to current and former state legislators and members of Congress from Pennsylvania.
Although Ridge's latest veto of such measures was issued only 12 weeks ago, dozens of lawmakers have lined up in the last 30 days to cosponsor five bills for new specialty license plates.
They would honor submarine veterans, veterans missing in action and groups that help children in various ways.
Two of the bills would create plates that espouse anti-abortion causes. One would be a so-called special organization plate with "Choose Life" on it, with proceeds going to crisis pregnancy centers. The other would be an "A Friend for Life" plate, with some proceeds routed to nonprofit adoption agencies.
"I don't think we should have license plates for political philosophies," said state Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side. "Pretty soon you're going to have 500 specialty plates. It's ridiculous. I think license plates should be for the identification of automobiles."
That's exactly the state police's point in objecting to the proliferation of these plates: It's getting hard to tell what is, and is not, a Pennsylvania license plate, and to be able to read the registration numbers and letters.
State police have no trouble with vanity plates, which are regular state license plates but allow the vehicle owner to chose the letters or numbers on it, at a nominal cost.
The vast majority of the special plates feature small logos or designs in recognition of colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations. But the designs sometimes make the plate numbers harder to decipher, said Jack Lewis, state police spokesman.
Even worse are the five so-called "special fund plates" now on the roads, Lewis said. These plates are of different designs and even different colors, making it difficult to tell they are from Pennsylvania.
That makes it hard not only on the police, but on citizens trying to report a crime, perhaps a hit and run, Lewis said.
The DARE plate, for the group Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is black with red and white letters. It looks nothing like a standard white, blue and gold Pennsylvania plate, or the old plates with their dark blue background and gold letters. The state has issued 23,000 DARE plates.
The Preserve our Heritage plate is burgundy, with a logo of a locomotive. Some 27,000 of them are out there.
About 137,000 vehicles have the tiger plate with a green background to benefit zoos. The otter plate (formerly owl plate) for wildlife conservation has a light blue background. Drivers bought 23,000 of them.
Another special fund plate for the Brig Niagara, a ship recovered from Lake Erie in 1913, was discontinued in 1997. It has a ship logo in the background. About 27,000 remain on the roads.
Those special plates were designed on purpose to look different from standard plates so they stand out to consumers. A portion of the money goes to groups that sponsor the plates. Special fund plates cost an extra $35.
The state spends money to design, produce and distribute any specialty plate, and the ones whose profits go to organizations are a financial burden for the government, said Tim Reeves, Ridge's spokesman.
Sen. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said a middle ground should be found, perhaps by allowing those organizations to administer the money on their own.
A special plate just for lawmakers might not be much of a cost, Young said.
If the trend of lawmakers getting themselves arrested continues, the ones who end up in prison could make those specialty plates for their former colleagues, he joked. A total of 11 state lawmakers were either arrested, indicted or jailed in the last year.
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