Texas Responds: The Texas War Relief Package Page: 35
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LEGISLATION REQUIRED Emergency Management 12
RECOMMENDATION
Texas should offer"United Americans" or "Land of the Free" license plates and
dedicate revenue to disaster assistance and special program funding.
COMMENTS:
" The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) provides Texans with the choice
of more than 100 different special license plates if they do not want standard license
plates.
" A division of TxDOT called the Special Plates Branch of the Vehicle Titles and
Registration Division (VTR) processes applications, determines whether a person or
organization meets the qualifications and issues the license plates.
" TxDOT uses the following categories: exempt, military and prestige. The prestige
plates cover numerous categories like universities, the arts and conservation.
" Fees for each of the specialty plates are set by statute in addition to the normal reg-
istration process and range widely with $30 as the most commonly charged fee.
Often a part of each fee (usually $5) is retained by TxDOT to cover the cost of pro-
ducing and issuing the license plate. TxDOT also has a special provision that
requires a deposit of $15,000 for each new specialty plate that covers up-front pro-
duction costs.
" The fees from the sale of specialty license plates are dedicated to the project or
organization promoting the plate.
" The only advertising TxDOT does for the specialty plates is a small insert placed in
license plate renewal notices sent in the mail. The "United Americans/Land of the
Free" plate could be advertised more widely, possibly using a special mail insert,
posters in assessor-collector's offices and other locations, special service announce-
ments and other public relations campaigns.
" Texas should dedicate the "United Americans/Land of the Free" licenses plate rev-
enue to a special fund for relief efforts such as Texas Tomorrow Fund scholarships
provided to children of military and civilian personnel killed or injured in the
nation's war on terrorism or in disaster responses. The revenue also could be used
for special counseling for families of victims and other needs identified by the
Legislature.
LEGISLATION REQUIRED
Texas law would need to be changed to authorize the specialty plate, dedicate the rev-
enue to a special fund for disaster and war projects, exempt this plate from the
$15,000 up-front collection by TxDOT for its costs, and authorize advertising of the
plates.
FISCAL IMPACT
If the average revenue per plate was $25 and the state sold half as many "United
Americans/Land of the Free" plates as it sold Commission for the Arts plates, the
estimated gain to a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund would be about
$210,000. This includes a six-month start-up period, allowing four months of revenue
in the first year of sales. Advertising costs would come from existing budgets. The
Highway Fund would get about $52,500 each year, after the initial start-up period.For more detail on the Texas-War Relief Package go to http://www.window.state.tx.us/wrp/
TEXAS RESPONDS - The Texas War Relief Package 35
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Texas. Comptroller's Office. Texas Responds: The Texas War Relief Package, text, November 2001; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth654370/m1/45/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.