The Alaska House of Representatives passes a bill which removes the requirement for vehicles to have a front license plate. The legislation would amend state statute to state that the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles shall issue to the registered owner, upon receipt of the proper application and fees, one registration plate, tab, and a registration form displaying the month and year in which the registration expires.
House Bill 166 was cosponsored by Rep. Ron Gillham, who told the house floor:
“I know here in Juneau, starting now, you’re going to have lots of trucks with a sign that covers up their front license plate. Every coastal community has trucks pulling boats. Technically, if a trooper wants to pull you over for not displaying your front license plate, they can do that. to get rid of that, having to have a front license, it’ll get rid of that. I am in support of this. I heard yesterday that if somebody steals the front license plate and they put it on another car, they don’t look for it. I have not seen a trooper yet that looks for a front license plate, they look for the back license plate. On the signage on the oversize vehicles, that’s the main reason I’m supporting this. For many years I had a truck with the license plates that was covered up and I was never pulled over, but like I said here in Juneau and every coastal community are going to have vehicles with that front license plate covered up. I am in full support of this bill.”
It is estimated that the removal of this requirement would save the state of Alaska an average of over $300,000 annually. Over the last two fiscal years, the DMV has spent an average of $664,000 on license plates per year. By reducing the number of plates issued to one plate per vehicle, the DMV’s plate inventory costs would be reduced by 50% per year.
Additionally, there would be no operational impact to the DMV, and little to no programming changes needed for DMV information systems to implement the change.
The bill passed on a 29-10 vote and is transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360TV.
