By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, January 27, 2012
The “I am Vermont Strong” commemorative license plate to benefit the Vermont Food Bank and the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund is making its way through the General Assembly for approval. You may recall it being mentioned in the Governor’s State of the State address earlier in the month and appearing on the front page of many papers. On January 26, S-249 passed the full Senate on a unanimous voice vote. It had previously been vetted in the Senate Transportation, Finance and the Appropriations Committees. It now moves to the House of Representatives to be reviewed by committees and then to the House floor for expected passage. Upon passage, it will be sent to the Governor for his signature.
Behind the scenes, literally, the plate is already being produced by our working male prisoners at the Northwest Correctional Center at St Albans in the license plate shop. (This is the same shop that used to be located at the correctional facility in Windsor and run by women prisoners.) These workers had already made 6800 by the 25th and likely will have made the 8,000 requested in the first round by the time you read this. The cost to make the plates is $4.86 and they are being purchased by the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.
The plate which is green, black and white will sell for $25. Eighteen dollars will be for 2011 flood victims via the relief fund, two dollars will be for the food bank and five dollars will go to the DMV. As I understand it, the two people from Rutland who designed the logo and put it on T-shirts to raise funds for victims after Hurricane Irene made the food bank request in exchange for the use of the logo. The goal with the sales is to raise one million dollars.
The plates can be put on the front of cars, or trucks weighing less than 26,000 pounds and must be placed on top of the official front plate. This may be a little tricky but one is required in the law to leave your DMV issued plate in place. They can be on one’s vehicle until June 30, 2014. The plates can be purchased by anyone, in and out of state, and it is believed that many will buy them as souvenirs. They will be sold hopefully by many vendors, and already VT Life magazine has received 1019 pre-orders. Maybe you’ll be able to buy one at your local grocery store. The commemorative plate will be exempt from the sales and use tax.
Contact me at home at 228-8432, the State House at 1-800-322-5616 or at [email protected] or P.O. Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149 Find schedules and bills at www.leg.state.vt.us.
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