State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SB2185gms

 
                            State of Illinois
                         OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
                      Springfield, Illinois  62706
      George H. Ryan
      GOVERNOR
                                                      July 19, 2002
      To the Honorable Members of
        The Illinois Senate
      92nd General Assembly
          Specialty license plates serve an  admirable  purpose  of
      recognizing  and  raising  funds for organizations and worthy
      causes throughout the State of Illinois.  In  signing  Senate
      Bill  2185  today,  I honor the General Assembly's intentions
      and support a longstanding tradition in Illinois  to  provide
      our  residents  with the opportunity to display their support
      for a cause or organization through specialty license plates.
      However, I also recognize that the State  is  experiencing  a
      proliferation  of specialty plates, which holds the potential
      to impact Illinois citizens with respect  to  public  safety.
      The  Illinois State Police and law enforcement community have
      indicated a growing concern with  the  increasing  number  of
      special  plates.   The  myriad  of  designs available make it
      difficult for law enforcement officers to  identify  properly
      issued valid Illinois registrations, impairing the ability of
      police to quickly identify suspect vehicles.
          It  is also essential, especially in these tight economic
      times, for the State to  curtail  any  unnecessary  spending.
      In  creating a funding mechanism within Senate Bill 2185, the
      General  Assembly  has  made  clear  its  intention  for  the
      additional fee paid by  the  recipients  of  special  license
      plates  to cover the cost of their design and production.  In
      order to ensure that  the  General  Assembly's  intention  is
      guaranteed,  I  believe  it is essential that the State incur
      the  costs  of  special  plate  production  only  after   the
      applicants  for  the  plates  have  demonstrated a sufficient
      level of interest to cover those costs.
          I encourage the Secretary of State's Office  to  use  the
      discretionary  powers provided to the office by Section 3-600
      of the Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/3-600) which  allows
      the  Secretary  to  produce  new  special  plates only when a
      sufficient level of applications have been received.
                                             Sincerely,
                                             George H. Ryan
                                             GOVERNOR

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