Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding Don't Tread On Me license plates and to establish the Idaho Firearms Safety Education Committee.
Summary
Senate Bill 1105 revises Idaho’s “Don’t Tread on Me” specialty license plate program and ties the plate revenue to firearms safety education. The bill delays the effective date for the plate from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026, keeps the plate available for eligible vehicles, and sets the fee structure for initial issuance, renewals, and sample plates. It also specifies the plate’s design as a bright yellow plate featuring the Gadsden flag, a rattlesnake image, and the words “don’t tread on me.”
The bill directs a portion of plate fees to the state highway account for administration and design costs, while the remainder is transferred to the firearms safety grant fund. It also exempts this plate program from some of the usual special-plate prequalification rules that apply to new specialty plates, including the standard requirement that proceeds go to the highway distribution account. In addition, the bill makes the firearms safety education program more formal by amending the school firearms safety statute, creating the Idaho Firearms Safety Education Committee, and assigning it responsibility for administering the grant fund and overseeing grants for school district firearms safety education courses.
Impact
S1105 amends three sections of Idaho Code: the specialty plate statute, the special license plate prequalification process, and the firearms safety education statute. It creates a dedicated funding stream for firearms safety education through license plate sales, establishes a new committee appointed by the attorney general, and shifts administration of the grant program from the state board of education to the new committee while keeping the board involved in receiving and forwarding applications. The bill also imposes new administrative and reporting requirements for the specialty plate program and declares an emergency with retroactive application to January 1, 2025.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad legislative support, passing the Senate 29-6 and the House 62-4. The vote totals suggest the overall concept of a specialty plate funding firearms safety education was acceptable to most lawmakers, even though a minority opposed it. The absence of committee transcript material limits insight into detailed debate, but the strong margins indicate generally favorable sentiment toward both the plate program and the associated education funding structure.
Contention
The most likely points of contention are the use of a politically symbolic Gadsden flag plate, the linkage of vehicle registration fees to firearms-related education, and the creation of a new committee with members appointed by the attorney general rather than by the education system. The bill also changes who administers the grant program and exempts this plate from some standard specialty-plate rules, which may have raised procedural or policy concerns. The recorded no votes in both chambers indicate that some legislators objected to one or more of these features, though the available record does not specify their reasons.