Special license plates

AN ACT Relating to special license plates; amending RCW 1
46.18.060; creating new sections; providing a contingent effective 2
date; providing expiration dates; and declaring an emergency.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The high cost of implementing a new 5
special license plate series, coupled with the uncertainty of the 6
state's ability to recoup its costs, has led the legislature to delay 7
the implementation of new special license plates. In order to address 8
these issues, it is the intent of the legislature to create a 9
mechanism that will allow for the opportunity to review and evaluate 10
the special license plate process, to ensure efficacy of the program, 11
and to ensure this program does not result in undue costs to the 12
state of Washington. With the creation of a task force, the 13
legislature will be better equipped to efficiently process special 14
license plate legislation.15
(2) This section expires December 1, 2026. 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1)(a) A legislative task force to review 17
the special license plate process is established, with members as 18
provided in this subsection:19
H-1267.1
HOUSE BILL 1952
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Donaghy and Reed
Prefiled 02/11/25. Read first time 02/12/25. Referred to Committee
on Transportation.
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(i) The president of the senate shall appoint two senate members 1
from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate;2
(ii) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint 3
two house members from each of the two largest caucuses of the house 4
of representatives; 5
(iii) At least one member from each caucus must be a member of 6
the transportation committee, or successor committee; and7
(iv) The governor shall appoint two members representing the 8
department of licensing. 9
(b) The task force shall choose its chair from among its 10
legislative membership. Legislators shall convene the initial meeting 11
of the task force. 12
(2) The task force shall review the following issues:13
(a) Application requirements and evaluation of special license 14
plate requests; 15
(b) Cost of implementing new special license plates and a funding 16
policy for future requests; 17
(c) The state's ability to recoup the cost of new special license 18
plates; and 19
(d) Efficiency in processing special license plate legislation.20
(3) Legislative members of the task force may be reimbursed for 21
travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative 22
members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they 23
are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, 24
governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for 25
other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.26
(4) The expenses of the task force shall be paid jointly by the 27
senate and the house of representatives. Task force expenditures are 28
subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee 29
and the house executive rules committee, or their successor 30
committees. 31
(5) The task force shall report its findings and recommendations 32
to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2025.33
(6) This section expires December 1, 2026. 34
Sec. 3. RCW 46.18.060 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 25 s 40 are each 35
amended to read as follows: 36
(1) The department must review and either approve or reject 37
special license plate applications submitted by sponsoring 38
organizations. Except for the special license plates created in 39
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chapter . . . (House Bill No. 1368), Laws of 2025, the department may 1
not approve special license plate applications until June 30, 2029.2
(2) Duties of the department include, but are not limited to, the 3
following: 4
(a) Review and approve the annual financial reports submitted by 5
sponsoring organizations with active special license plate series and 6
present those annual financial reports to the joint transportation 7
committee; 8
(b) Report annually to the joint transportation committee on the 9
special license plate applications that were considered by the 10
department; 11
(c) Issue approval and rejection notification letters to 12
sponsoring organizations, the executive committee of the joint 13
transportation committee, and the legislative sponsors identified in 14
each application. The letters must be issued within seven days of 15
making a determination on the status of an application; and16
(d) Review annually the number of plates sold for each special 17
license plate series created after January 1, 2003. The department 18
may submit a recommendation to discontinue a special plate series to 19
the executive committee of the joint transportation committee.20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act is necessary for the immediate 21
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 22
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 23
effect when chapter . . . (House Bill No. 1368), Laws of 2025 is 24
enacted. If chapter . . . (House Bill No. 1368) is not enacted by 25
June 30, 2025, this act is null and void.26
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