MTR VEHICLE/LICEN PLATES: Creates the "Classic Black" specialty license plate
Summary
HB 801 creates a new Louisiana special prestige motor vehicle license plate called the "Classic Black We Will Never Forget: Caroline and Maggie" plate. The plate is available for passenger cars, pickup trucks, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and vans, but only if the Department of Public Safety and Corrections receives at least 1,000 applications and can update its registration system to issue the plate. The design must feature white alphanumeric characters on a black background with a white border and "Louisiana" at the top.
The bill also sets the financial terms for the plate. Applicants must pay a $25 annual royalty fee, plus the standard motor vehicle license tax and a $3.50 handling fee retained by the department. The royalty revenue is directed to the Donald J. Thibodeaux Training Center in Zachary, Louisiana, and must be used for emergency vehicle operations training for local governments under existing law. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections is authorized to adopt rules to implement the plate.
Impact
HB 801 adds R.S. 47:463.243 to Louisiana law, expanding the state’s special prestige license plate program and creating a new dedicated revenue stream for emergency vehicle operations training. It affects the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of Motor Vehicles, by requiring plate design, issuance, fee collection, and rulemaking once the application threshold and system requirements are met. It also directs funds to the Donald J. Thibodeaux Training Center for training-related purposes, while leaving the standard vehicle tax structure in place.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly well received and noncontroversial. It passed the House overwhelmingly, 88-1, and the Senate unanimously on both the co-author and final passage votes. The strong bipartisan support suggests general agreement with both the commemorative purpose of the plate and the training-related use of the fee revenue.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The only visible point of potential concern is the administrative and practical requirement that at least 1,000 applicants be secured before the plate is created, along with the need for the department’s electronic registration system to be updated. Otherwise, the bill’s commemorative naming and fee dedication to emergency vehicle operations training appear to have been broadly accepted.
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