Looking for support for single license plate in Iowa and Nebraska

Roy Stein shared his passionate call out to fellow car enthusiasts residing in Iowa and Nebraska to make their voices heard.

Please read Roy's letter below.

The best opportunity we have to eliminate the dreaded front license plate in Nebraska and Iowa is to pass LB 38 and SF 193 / HF 2028, respectively. Hearings on these bills will take place soon after the legislatures re-convene on July 20th and June 3rd, respectively. Take a fun day trip with friends to Lincoln and Des Moines (keeping safety precautions, of course) and get everyone to sign up to speak in the committee hearings. Information on how to speak in the hearings can be found on the committees' sites. It means a lot to our lawmakers to see the groundswell of support and their constituents making an effort to physically be at the hearings. Our voices were drowned out in previous hearings, and as a result we failed to get rid of the front plate in previous years. These bills have been languishing in the legislatures for over a year without any action. Don't let our voices be stifled again! 

Please call every single state Senator and Representative, starting with the speakers and relevant committee members, and urge them to side with drivers in support of the fast and permanent elimination of front plates. Also email the lawmakers at the following addresses:

Nebraska:
Contact your legislator - (First Initial).(Last Name)@leg.ne.gov
Contact Governor Ricketts at https://governor.nebraska.gov/contact-form

Iowa:
Contact your legislator - (First Name).(Last Name)@legis.iowa.gov
Contact Governor Reynolds at info@governo.iowa.gov and kirby.connell@iow.gov .

It is of the utmost importance that you keep constant track of this and other front plate legislation. There are two easy ways to do this, and I recommend doing both: 1) search for "plate" in Legiscan after selecting the state; and 2) search for "license plate" + Nebraska or Iowa in Google News, then sort by date.

Spread the word far and wide among your fellow car enthusiasts, car club members, car dealers, car rental companies, friends, family, customers, staff and everyone else. Ask them to join you in your vocal support for abolishing the front plate. Also reach out to newspapers, TV and radio stations, and write letters to the editor.

Here are a few arguments for a single license plate that you might consider using:

I have included below sample letters that you might consider personalizing/adapting and sending to lawmakers and the governor.

Thank you so much for putting in the time and effort to help make Nebraska and Iowa the 21st and 22nd states in the nation to switch to a single license plate!

Sincerely,
Roy Stein

--------
Nebraska template letter below:
Subject: Support LB38 and a single license plate

Dear Senator/Governor Name,

I urge you to support LB 38, which would require a single license plate on the back of cars.

A front license plate is redundant and unnecessary when the rear plate is already present. In fact, 19 states have already dumped the front plate, and people in those states are very happy with this. Those states run just fine and have not descended into chaos. No state has switched from one plate to two plates in several decades, and it is easy to understand why: drivers, who make up the vast majority of citizens, loathe to wake up one morning to the nightmare of being told to drill holes into their cars.

Eliminating the front plate is a cost-saving measure in this financially difficult time for Nebraska. The state government will experience an unprecedented drop in tax revenue due to people losing their jobs, and we need to tighten our belt as a state by eliminating unnecessary spending. One common sense way to further this objective is by halting the wasteful expense of manufacturing the superfluous front license plate.

Front plates are a hassle to install by car dealers and consumers. Important safety technology such as proximity and traffic sensors are present on the front bumpers of modern cars, which impede and can be damaged by attempts to install a front plate. The resale value of a car goes down tremendously once holes have been drilled into the front bumper. Eliminating front license plates protects the aesthetic contours of cars so that drivers aren't forced to disfigure their cars with the dreaded "metal mustache".

Manufacturing and delivering front plates to every car owner in the state incurs an enormous cost to drivers, placing a disproportionately greater burden on our poorest citizens, who are already struggling to make ends meet.

The money saved by the state by forgoing the second (front) plate is a lifeline to critical infrastructure projects that provide vital services to our citizens. The savings will minimize disruption to these services while at the same time not further overburdening our tax payers.

Now is the time to implement common sense cost-saving measures such as the elimination of front license plates. If we don't take action now, our state is going to suffer: state employees may need to be laid off, pensions may go unpaid, and citizens will lose access to vital services.

There is an increasing appreciation among state administrators of the advantages to switching to a single license plate, and a growing momentum to eliminate the front plate. The Governor of Ohio has recently signed a bill requiring a single license plate on the rear of vehicles, thus making Ohio the 20th state in the nation to ditch the front plate. Similarly, the Canadian province of New Brunswick, which borders Maine, also got rid of front license plates last summer.

There is absolutely no excuse for Nebraska to continue requiring two license plates. Money and resources will be saved when a single plate is produced and delivered to car owners. Ceasing to manufacture front license plates would also conserve non-renewable natural resources such as aluminum and fuel.

In this precarious financial environment, it is more important than ever to trim the budget fat and ensure our state's fiscal health in the years to come. By making common sense changes such as getting rid of front plates, we will be preparing our state for a future when the tax revenue starts to dry up due to the crisis. It is our duty to ensure that our state is prepared to withstand whatever dire circumstances it may confront. I therefore plead with you to support LB 38.

I would like to end by expressing my sincere appreciation for all the hard work that you have put into improving the lives of the people of Nebraska. Your support of making Nebraska the 21st state in the nation to require a single license plate wound mean a lot to me and countless other Nebraska drivers!

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,

--------

Iowa template letter below:
Subject: Support SF193, HF2028 and a single license plate

Dear Senator/Representative/Governor Name,

I urge you to support SF 193 and HF 2028, which would require a single license plate on the back of cars.

A front license plate is redundant and unnecessary when the rear plate is already present. In fact, 19 states have already dumped the front plate, and people in those states are very happy with this. Those states run just fine and have not descended into chaos. No state has switched from one plate to two plates in several decades, and it is easy to understand why: drivers, who make up the vast majority of citizens, loathe to wake up one morning to the nightmare of being told to drill holes into their cars.

Eliminating the front plate is a cost-saving measure in this financially difficult time for Iowa. The state government will experience an unprecedented drop in tax revenue due to people losing their jobs, and we need to tighten our belt as a state by eliminating unnecessary spending. One common sense way to further this objective is by halting the wasteful expense of manufacturing the superfluous front license plate.

Front plates are a hassle to install by car dealers and consumers. Important safety technology such as proximity and traffic sensors are present on the front bumpers of modern cars, which impede and can be damaged by attempts to install a front plate. The resale value of a car goes down tremendously once holes have been drilled into the front bumper. Eliminating front license plates protects the aesthetic contours of cars so that drivers aren't forced to disfigure their cars with the dreaded "metal mustache".

Manufacturing and delivering front plates to every car owner in the state incurs an enormous cost to drivers, placing a disproportionately greater burden on our poorest citizens, who are already struggling to make ends meet.

The money saved by the state by forgoing the second (front) plate is a lifeline to critical infrastructure projects that provide vital services to our citizens. The savings will minimize disruption to these services while at the same time not further overburdening our tax payers.

Now is the time to implement common sense cost-saving measures such as the elimination of front license plates. If we don't take action now, our state is going to suffer: state employees may need to be laid off, pensions may go unpaid, and citizens will lose access to vital services.

There is an increasing appreciation among state administrators of the advantages to switching to a single license plate, and a growing momentum to eliminate the front plate. The Governor of Ohio has recently signed a bill requiring a single license plate on the rear of vehicles, thus making Ohio the 20th state in the nation to ditch the front plate. Similarly, the Canadian province of New Brunswick, which borders Maine, also got rid of front license plates last summer.

There is absolutely no excuse for Iowa to continue requiring two license plates. Money and resources will be saved when a single plate is produced and delivered to car owners. Ceasing to manufacture front license plates would also conserve non-renewable natural resources such as aluminum and fuel.

In this precarious financial environment, it is more important than ever to trim the budget fat and ensure our state's fiscal health in the years to come. By making common sense changes such as getting rid of front plates, we will be preparing our state for a future when the tax revenue starts to dry up due to the crisis. It is our duty to ensure that our state is prepared to withstand whatever dire circumstances it may confront. I therefore plead with you to support and SF 193 and HF 2028.

I would like to end by expressing my sincere appreciation for all the hard work that you have put into improving the lives of the people of Iowa. Your support of making Iowa the 21st state in the nation to require a single license plate wound mean a lot to me and countless other Iowa drivers!

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,