If anyone wants to get a personalized license plate from the state of Florida, it's best to be creative and avoid vulgar language — and don't try "WANKRR" because it's already been rejected.
Florida drivers have a lot of leeway when it comes to personalized license plates. They can be used to describe oneself or a vehicle and can sometimes be humorous to other drivers on the road. But in large part, it's a crapshoot for those who don't know the rules.
Over the last three years, Floridians have applied for more than 1,000 personalized license plates, records obtained by the Gainesville Sun show, a vast majority of which were rejected.
​Since 2018, only about 25% of the personalized plates submitted for review have been approved by the state of Florida.

Plates like “SXY GRMA” got the green light from state officials, while “FARTMAN” was left in the virtual dust bin.
Offensive or objectionable plates are often rejected by the state. "DOO DOO" and "UID IOT" didn't make the cut, while more revealing "I GOTA P" and "MO STIKY" requests did, the state's list shows.
Plates with phrases like "GET SOME" or "MCNASTY" made it through. While "OH FARTS" and "MR POOP" got blocked.

​"Personalized license plate requests received by the department with obscene or objectionable words will be rejected," said Jessica Kelleher, the deputy communications director at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The state rejected 275 personalized plates from 2013 to 2018, The Gainesville Sun reported in 2018. But over the past three years since, the state rejected 790 requested plates, according to data from a public records request.

​The coronavirus pandemic coincided with a large drop in requests, the state's list shows. But the prison was also closed for manufacturing on numerous occasions due to Covid infections and precautions. While more than 1,000 plate requests were received in 2019, only about 250 were submitted in the following two years combined. During that same time, just four personalized plates were approved.
"GETU5UM," "FREEAZ" and "POOBLIX" were first rejected, but after a further review was overturned and approved. "SATN LVS" is the only personalized plate since 2020 to be approved on initial review.
One driver expressed frustration with the pandemic, applying for "FUCOVID," but that plate was rejected. Other submissions got political with "FUBDN" and "FTR UMP," both of which, of course, were rejected.
Personalized plates are first reviewed by staff at local tax collection offices and state motor vehicle offices. Other submissions are screened through the FLHSMV Inventory Control Unit.

"Anyone can contact the FLHSMV or their local tax collector's office to file a complaint should they encounter a plate that is obscene or objectionable," said Kelleher.
If a requested plate has a curse word, like "HELL NAW," it is rejected immediately. A reference to cursing, like "HELYAZ," got through on initial review, but was overturned and recalled.

It's clear from reviewing the list that drivers are getting more aggressive with their requests. "V10L3NT," "KRZYBCH," "KDNAPPR" and "HOMICDL" got the axe. Yet "5ICKO" and "DA BULLY" punched their way through.
Most plates with references to law enforcement got rejected, as state law forbids citizens from impersonating law enforcement. Plates like "CIA BABY," "FBI-19" and "RET FBI" got rejected. One plate, however, with a more vague reference to the police — "WUZFUZ" — got OK'd.
Personalized license plates are different from specialty tags, which show support for a broad range of organizations that include environmental causes or support for military veterans or colleges.
The specialty tags can also be personalized by using four to seven digits or letters, though there is an annual upcharge of about $53 per vehicle.

For full article from The Gainesville Sun with images: click here

Statistics received from the DMV show that total revenue from specialty plate sales in August, 2020 dropped to $2,701,403.00 from $2,798,122.00. New plate sales increased from 18,858 to 18,935, however, renewals of specialty plates fell from 101,595 to 96,784. Similarly, total non-specialty plate registrations fell from 1,189,727 in August 2019, to 1,131,144 for August 2020.
So far in 2020, through August 31, over $22 million has been raised from specialty license plate sales in Florida and 948,971 specialty plates have been sold/renewed.
Endless Summer was the highest grossing plate in August, 2020 with $182,075.00, increasing from $171,250.00.
Revenue for the Protect Wild Dolphins license plate for Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation continued to decline, from $76,000.00 in August, 2019 to $72,160.00 in August, 2020. Choose Life dropped from $31,700.00 to $25,820.00.
Although sales and revenue for specialty license plates indicated a significant downward turn with the closing of DMV offices and some Tax Collectors offices to the public in certain parts of the state in the last week of the month of March, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, total revenue from the sale of Specialty License Plates for the first six months of 2020 only dropped by 2.7% to $16,365,550.00, compared to $16,802,378.00 for the first six months of 2019.
Although this represents a $436,828.00 drop in revenue, some plates have done quite well, with Endless Summer increasing 3% from $959,875.00 for the first half of 2019 to $987,000.00 for the first half of this year. Miami Heat saw a 13.5% increase in revenue from $550,400.00 to $624,700.00. The other top selling plates all saw a decline, with UF dropping from $1,045,975 to $993,200.00; Helping Sea Turtles Survive dropping from $901,255.00 to $886,696.00 and FSU dropping from $813,800.00 to $771,400.00.
Total new plate/new issue sales dropped 25% from 106,793 in the first six months of 2019, to 85,448 in the first six months of 2020. Despite this, some plates fared well, including Miami Marlins, Florida Sheriff's Association, Support Autism, UCF and the Tampa Bay Bucs and Lightning. Visit our Lights saw new plate sales increase from 364 to 778 and revenue increased 25% from $59,450.00 to $74,550.00.
Some plates saw significant declines in the first six months of 2020 compared to 2019, including Choose Life (-10.5%), from $190,960.00 to $171,040.00; Parents Make A Difference (-58%) from $17,925.00 to $7,725.00 and Protect Wild Dolphins (-6%) from $472,580.00 to $445,200.00.
Total revenue from the sale of Florida Specialty License Plates for the month of July, 2020 increased slightly to $2,983,780.00, compared to $2,919,801.00, for July 2019. New plate sales also increased to 19,448 from 18,779.
Miami Heat new plate sales increased to 1,249 for the month of July, 2020, compared to 880 in July, 2019 and revenue increased to $115,750.00 from $96,400.00.
Tampa Bay Bucs maintained their 'Brady effect' by increasing new plate sales for the month of July, 2020 to 867 compared to 513 last year and saw revenue increase to $85,300.00 from $73,700.00.
Endless Summer increased total revenue for July to $198,575.00 compared to $177,025.00 in July, 2019.
Some plates saw revenue declines for July 2020 compared to July, 2019, including UF, FSU, Golf Capital of the World, Protect Wild Dolphins, and Choose Life.

​The Cape Cod Commission, on behalf of the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners and the Barnstable County Economic Development Council (BCEDC), has awarded more than $136,000.00 in grant funds through the Barnstable County License Plate Grant Program to support COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency projects. 
The Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners voted unanimously to award the following six grants:
$25,0000.00 to Sustainable Cape Center for Agricultural Preservation and Education to expand access to locally grown and produced foods;
$25,000.00 to Love Live Local for the Cape Cod Resilience Fund to provide economic relief to Cape Cod’s small business community;
$24,802.00 to Cape Cod Community College to develop the curriculum for the Massachusetts Community Health Worker program;
$25,000.00 to the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod to support Cape Cod arts and cultural organizations as they work to recover and reopen;
$11,545.00 to Cape Cod Young Professionals to support workforce retention and development through CCYP’s new Laser-Focused Coaching Program; and,
$25,000.00 to the Lower Cape Community Development Corporation to provide comprehensive business support to Lower-Cape based small businesses.

​The Barnstable County License Plate Grant Program, funded by proceeds from the sale of Cape Cod and Islands specialty license plates, is intended to support regional priorities for economic development and achievement of long-term economic diversity and sustainability. 
The funding was made available to local or regional governmental or nonprofit agencies for projects that support recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic and resiliency to such impacts in the future. Projects proposed were required to address a documented impact of the pandemic and align with and support implementation of the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). 
Eighteen proposals were submitted in response to a Request for Proposals issued in June. The BCEDC recommended six proposals for funding, which were approved by the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners.