Fund-raising license plates may get new life

Three organizations with special fund-raising license plates may be able to continue issuing the plates.

The House Transportation Committee adjourned Tuesday before voting on HB89, which would have required all special group license plates to be tied to a government entity. The bill would not have allowed No More Homeless Pets, Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts of America and other nongovernment entities to issue the plates, which generate an additional $25 on the registration the first year and $10 each subsequent year.

"I felt that the three organizations provided needed public services," Rep. Ty McCartney, D-Salt Lake, who made the motion to adjourn, said. "I didn't want them to lose their funding."

The bill may still be brought to the House floor with a majority vote. Sponsoring Rep. Mike Morley, R-Spanish Fork, said that if the bill does come to the floor, he would support allowing the three groups to keep their plates if a "neutral standard" could be found that would qualify all of them.