MADISON — Among the hundreds of ideas Democratic Gov. Tony Evers pitched in his two-year budget plan Tuesday night are butter-themed and ‘blackout’ license plates for Wisconsin motorists.
While no mock-ups of the designs were available Tuesday, administration officials said the plate that resembles butter would have a yellow background. “Blackout” plates, with a black background and simple white lettering, have exploded in popularity in other states.
If the idea advances through the months-long budget writing process, the plates would be added to the 60-some specialty license plates currently available in Wisconsin, which typically cost $15 per year on top of regular registration fees.
Special license plate designs usually originate from nonprofits and other organizations associated with the plate, such as the International Crane Foundation or Wisconsin County Forests Association, both of which recently debuted plates.
These are some of the most popular license plates created by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2024.
Groups must pay a $15,500 development fee and collect 500 signatures from the public in order to apply for a new plate. Many plates require a $25 annual donation to the organization featured on the plate.
Wisconsinites who personalize the characters on their plate or select a specialty design pay extra fees that translate into millions of dollars into the state’s transportation fund, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Evers is also proposing spending $14.8 million to replace old license plates still on the road in Wisconsin, complying with a law that requires all plates that are 10 years or older to be replaced by 2032. Funding to develop the new plates is also included in the budget.
Republicans who control the Legislature typically scrap Evers’ budget proposals and start from scratch, but there has previously been bipartisan interest in expanding Wisconsin’s license plate offerings.
More: Wisconsin DMV will move onto a new letter after license plates starting with ‘A’ ran out
More: Road America license plate is even more popular in Wisconsin than Green Bay Packers plate. Why is that?
Blackout plates are not a new idea in the state Legislature. In January, Rep. Paul Melotik, a Republican from Grafton, reintroduced a bill to bring a blackout license plate to Wisconsin.
Blackout plate designs are extremely popular in other states, including Minnesota, and demand generated almost $2 million in revenue in Iowa in just a few months.
Wisconsin already has a similar design for Road America which features an outline of the racetrack, which is the most popular plate available to the general public. Road America has said they have no issues with creating a separate black-and-white plate in Wisconsin.
A pace car at Road America displays the specialty license plate, personalized with the message “GOFAST.”
Wisconsin has one other plate with a majority yellow background — the Green Bay Packers plate, which has a gold background, green lettering and the Packers ‘G’ logo. Black-and-yellow plates are also available to members of the Operating Engineers Local 139 union.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers pitches butter-themed, blackout license plates in Wisconsin
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