Car plates are getting political

The Legislature may have no say in whether old trains, new farmers and political abortion messages will be displayed on license plates next year.

Deseret Morning News graphicSpecialized license platesRequires Adobe Acrobat.

Instead, decisions about the special group plates may become an administrative function handled by the Department of Motor Vehicles, if a Utah County lawmaker goes forward with the idea. Specialized license plates are used by the Children's Museum, No More Homeless Pets, universities and other organizations as fund-raising tools.

The change may actually come about because of the number of new special group plates requested this year and that two of those proposed plates, a pro-adoption "Choose Life" plate and a "Respect Choice" plate, have made the process too political.

Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, is sponsoring HB89, which would create a "Choose Life" plate. He said there is a "very good chance" that he will substitute a bill that establishes basic criteria for the DMV to follow when deciding whether to accept a plate.

Legislators may be deciding on a number of other plates, including fund-raisers for the Springville High School boosters, Children at Risk, veterans, the Future Farmers of America and the state railroad museum. While none of those will be a problem, the concern for Morley is that the "Respect Choice" plate will be denied, leading to a freedom of speech lawsuit.

"We've set them up for failure," Morley said. "You've got people who know they'll get sued if 'Respect Choice' doesn't pass, but they won't vote for it because of their own beliefs."

The "Choose Life" plate was not intended to send an anti-abortion message as much as it was meant to support adoptions, Morley said. With the opposing, obviously pro-choice plate proposed, he also fears that his message — he and his wife have adopted two children and they have helped other women with unplanned pregnancies set up adoptions — will get muddled by pro-life and pro-choice debates, eventually resulting in another abortion-related lawsuit.

Under Morley's plan, a plate would have to provide funding to a nonprofit organization that would handle all of the administrative costs and would have to have a minimum number of people who would agree to purchase the plate. Ideally, the requirements would limit the number of plates available in the state.

"It comes down to how viable the plate is," Morley said. "This program would force people to evaluate if it really is worth it."