The 2024 Florida state legislature voted passed a bill that would provide even more license plate options for state residents. According to the House Staff Analysis, currently, there are 113 specialty license plates available for sale and an additional 30 in presale. Specialty license plates are available to the owner or lessee of any motor vehicle who is willing to pay an annual use fee, in addition to the required license tax and fees. The collected fees are distributed by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to statutorily-designated organizations in support of a particular
cause or charity. 

​The bill — HB 403 — passed through the Senate unanimously and the House by an overwhelming majority, with 6 legislators voting against it: Beltran, Fine, Gregory (as always), Killebrew, Overdorf and Sirois.and was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 27, 2024. From the effective date of October 1, 2024, the organization has 60 days to submit the proposed art design for the specialty license plate to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). Within 120 days of the specialty license plate becoming law, DHSMV must establish a method to issue presale vouchers for the specialty license plate. The applicant for a specialty license plate pays a $5 processing fee, a $2.50 service charge, a $.50 branch fee, and the annual use fee. All other applicable fees are paid at the time of issuance of the specialty license plate.

After the presale vouchers are established, the organization has 24 months to obtain a minimum of
3,000 voucher sales before manufacturing of the plate can begin. If the minimum sales requirement
has not been met by the end of the 24-month presale period, the specialty license plate is deauthorized,

The number of specialty license plates issued cannot exceed 135. If the Legislature approves more
than 135 specialty license plates, DHSMV cannot issue any new specialty license plates until a sufficient number of plates are discontinued in order to not exceed the limit.

That bill directs the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to proceed with the design and required presale of the plates.

The full list of license plates and changes approved in the bill are as follows:

Collegiate (themed around state and independent universities in Florida)
Funds will go toward corresponding universities as determined by the purchaser.

“Live the Dream”
The CEO/Executive Director of the Dream Foundation, and former lobbyist, Michael Dobson has been arrested and charged with embezzlement of over $250,000.00 and the state legislature has voted to cancel any funding to those organizations previously listed, including Sickle Cell Disease Association and instead award up to 5% of the funds to the Atlanta-based King Center as royalty fees for the use of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s image. The remaining funds will be placed into an account within the Historical Resources Operating Trust Fund to support research for abandoned African-American cemeteries. According to the House Staff Analysis, On December 13, 2023, DHSMV issued a report which indicated that revenues associated with the 'Live The Dream' specialty license plate were being withheld as a result of unresolved audit findings. The report noted that the board of directors of the Dream Foundation, Inc., was non-operational, and, as of September 2023, the Dream Foundation, Inc., was listed as inactive with the Florida Division of Corporations. As of December 6, 2023, DHSMV was withholding $179,843, and there were 5,585 active 'Live The Dream' specialty license plates.
The House Staff Analysis stated that their would be a positive fiscal impact To the extent that if sales continue for the 'Live the Dream' License Plate, the Historical Resources Operating Trust Fund within the DOS will see an increase of revenues for the purpose of supporting the Historic Cemeteries Program. 
“American Eagle” 
The annual use fees from the sale of the plate must be distributed to the American Eagle Foundation for deposit in the foundation’s national endowment fund.

Divine Nine
The legislators changed the existing law to only Divine Nine members or their immediate family members are eligible for this license plate.

“Universal Orlando Resort”
Funds will be given to the Give Kids The World nonprofit, which seeks to provide “week-long, cost-free vacations to children with critical illnesses and their families.”

Once the specialty license plate goes into production, organizations authorized for a distribution from the proceeds of the sale of the respective license plate will benefit. Therefore, the following organizations may see an increase in revenues:
 Various in-state colleges and universities
 Eligible grant entities under the Historic Cemeteries Program
 The American Eagle Foundation
 Nine Member Organizations of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (Divine Nine)
 United Negro College Fund, Inc.
 Association to Preserve African American Society, History, and Tradition, Inc.
 Give Kids The World, Inc.
 SFC Charitable Foundation, Inc.
 Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Inc.
 Aerospace Center for Excellence
 The Villages Charter School, Inc.
 The Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, Inc.
 JDRF International Incorporated
 The UF Foundation, Inc.
 Recycle Florida Today Foundation, Inc.
 Captain Sandy Yawn, Inc.
 Project Addiction: Reversing the Stigma, Inc.
 United Service Organizations, Inc

​During the finish-line push of the 2024 Utah legislative session, state lawmakers passed a bill that would no longer require drivers to have a front license plate on their vehicles.

Senate Bill 45 passed its final vote in the Senate 27-0 on Wednesday, when the upper chamber concurred with a slight change to the legislation made in the House. The bill is now on its way to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk.

​Sen. Daniel McCay (R-Riverton) ran the bill, and he told ABC4 earlier this month that front license plate compliance in Utah is already relatively low.

“So we thought of getting rid of that requirement and using that to create some cost savings,” he said.

The change made in the House specifies that commercial vehicles would still need to have front and back license plates, in compliance with federal standards.
SB45, which is over 1,300 lines long, also centralizes and streamlines the license plate distribution process. McCay expects the state to save roughly $3 million a year through these changes.
Taxpayers will also see savings, as they will pay less in fees, McCay said. He noted that the state will save $3.50 for each license plate that isn’t printed, and a dollar from each plate saved with go toward the Utah Highway Patrol to boost trooper ranks.
The legislation is slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. As it stands, Utah is on track to become the 22nd state not to require a front license plate. Others include New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Florida.

​The Florida Legislature is studying proposals to memorialize the late singer Jimmy Buffett by naming a state highway and a specialty license plate for him. They’ve also held “Jimmy Buffett Day” at their Capitol in Tallahassee.

With apologies to former coach and football analyst Lee Corso, I say not so fast, my friend. It’s the Mississippi Legislature that should be honoring this Mississippi-born superstar of the cultural arts.

Perhaps Mississippi could honor him with memorial highway signage on U.S. 90 along the Gulf Coast, plus an informational marker set by the Department of Archives and History. Buffett died suddenly on Sept. 1. 

​He was born in Pascagoula on Christmas of 1946 and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969 with a degree in history. He attended Auburn but soon left for Pearl River Community College and then USM. 

Buffett was a member of myriad garage and rock bands in high school and college. He earned daytime money as an apprentice electrician and welder. His “Coral Reefer Band” was founded in 1975.

​In 1969, he embarked on one of the most phenomenal music and business careers of its type in American history. At first he played for cash on New Orleans street corners, then moved to Nashville to play and write music and to work as a reporter for Billboard magazine.

At his death Buffett was worth a reported $1 billion built from the sales of more than 30 million records and revenues generated from the “Margaritaville” brand of restaurants, hotels, casinos and beach-flavored merchandise.

​Buffett’s father was a marine engineer, while his grandfather was a steamship captain. Their lives doubtlessly were the genesis for his song, “Son of a Son of a Sailor.”

Surely, both men’s experiences had a profound influence on Buffett's “island escapism” existence that was pursued by devoted “Parrotheads” living along the coastal waters of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

​“Margaritaville is just what Florida is all about. Jimmy Buffett is the icon of Florida,” the Associated Press quoted Florida State Sen. Gayle Harrell. “No one represents the open sun, beaches and music more than Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville.” 

​That’s a nice assessment of the visionary entertainer and his Florida connections. However, Buffett never forgot his roots and was always quick to claim Mississippi as his home state. He’s ours. Reportedly, a young Buffett decided at a Biloxi folk-songs concert in 1961 that he wanted to sing for a living.

The AP reported that under the plans being considered at the Florida capitol, State Road A1A, the scenic highway that winds about 340 miles along Florida’s Atlantic Coast, would become Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.

Sponsors of the Florida legislation added an amendment to create a specialty license plate with the word “Margaritaville” — a trademark Buffett song he recorded in 1977 that jump-started his prodigious career as a songwriter and singer.

But, he’s not Florida’s. He was full bore Mississippi, and we mustn’t allow another state to upstage us in reminding the world about him and his unique talent.

The Mississippi Legislature could propose, pass and place a bill memorializing Buffett on Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk quicker than he can rail, “Tax cut!”

​Mac Gordon, a retired newspaperman, is a native of McComb. He can be reached at [email protected].

​Florida has more than 120 specialty license plates that let drivers show their support for veterans, native species and their favorite sports teams.But now the News Service of Florida is reporting the state's iconic "orange blossom" standard plate design could be on the chopping block.

Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, revealed during a Senate Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday, the change is likely to come in 2025, but discussions about a new design are already underway.And Hooper admits there's a chance someone will propose a new design once lawmakers return to Tallahassee on January 9th.

“Some of us think it might be time to look at redesigning the official non-specialty license plate for the state of Florida, as probably 49 other states have done in the last 50 years,” Hooper said.

Florida’s familiar design with the two oranges has been around since 2003, when it replaced the single orange some people apparently thought looked too much like a peach. The Department of Agriculture added “MyFlorida.com” across the top and the bottom of the plate varies from county to county, where it sometimes reads “Sunshine State,” “In God We Trust” or the county name.

Florida’s specialty license plate program is on the road to growth, as a new law signed Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis codifies key changes.

Sen. Aaron Bean’s measure (SB 364) will begin the development process for license plates representing Inter Miami CF, Safe Haven for Newborns, Pap Corps Champions for Cancer Research, Learn to Fly, Florida Swims, Down Syndrome Awareness, Take Stock in Children, and Gopher Tortoise.

The Bean bill was tweaked in the back-and-forth of the legislative process, with the Senate acceding to conditions from the House to close the deal.

The original Bean bill sought 150 specialty plates, but legislation passed by the House allows for 135 plates. Currently, 128 plates are available, and now another 40 tags are in the pre-sale status.

Under the new law, 3,000 pre-sales will be required for all plates, including out-of-state colleges, which had been set at 4,000, which will help Auburn University who now have 666 presale vouchers to be sold, instead of 1,666.

One plate was sacrificed: the Senate wanted an Ethical Ecotourism tag in the bill also. That was removed by the House, which did not consider that legislation in committees.

The bill also resets the 24-month clock on how long organizations have to reach the sales threshold number of 3,000.

Of the 60 recently authorized plates, 36 haven’t met the sales threshold required in order to be printed.

The bill won’t materially impact the bottom line of subsidiary governments, argued a staff analysis of the legislation from February: “According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the bill may have a negative, but insignificant, fiscal impact associated with programming costs. These costs can be absorbed within existing resources.”

As of June, 1, 2020, there were 1,928,972 specialty license plates on the roads in Florida, a record amount. Endless Summer leads the field with 117,765 followed by Helping Sea Turtles survive with 100,900. The new Disney/Make-A-Wish plate has already sold 25,846 since going on sale earlier this year.

Significant changes to the Live the Dream specialty plate were also approved in the new bill signed by the Governor, reducing the distribution to sickle cell disease organizations from 60% to 25%. Chapman Partnership's distribution was reduced from 30% to 22% and 43% is now available to the Dream Foundation for programs, with an additional 5% for administration, promotion and marketing.

CS/CS/SB 364, an 'Act Relating to Specialty License Plates', has been approved by the Florida Legislature and is being sent to the Governor for approval.
The bill reduces the number of allowable specialty plates to 135, from 150, and adds another 8 proposed specialty plates to the Presale Program, upon approval by FLHSMV: Inter Miami CF, Safe Haven for Newborns, PAP Corp Champions for Cancer Research, Learn to Fly, Florida Swims, Down Syndrome Awareness, Gopher Tortoise and Take Stock in Children.
HB 163 (filed by Reps Hinson, Tant and Woodson on 9/22/2021) and SB 424 (filed by Sen Berman on 10/8/2021) – proposed the 'Ethical Ecotourism' specialty license plate for the Florida Society for Ethical Ecotourism and Paddle Florida, Inc. This was not heard in any Committee and was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 12.00 AM.
SB 1154 (filed by Sen Stewart on 12/2/2021) – proposed the ‘Orlando United’ specialty license plate for the LGBT+ Center Orlando, Inc. and onePULSE Foundation, Inc. for the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016. This was not heard in any Committee and was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 12.00 AM.
According to the latest data release from FLHSMV, there are currently 33 specialty plates in the Presale Voucher process, and with the 8 new ones, there will be 41. The Senate Bill analysis for the bill that just passed states that there are currently 123 specialty license plates and there are 3 more, plus the nine 'Divine 9' specialty plates that have already completed the presale process, which will bring the number of specialty plates to 135. The bill, which awaits the governor's signature, reduces the number of allowable specialty plates to 135, from 150

Digital License Plates
CS/CS/HB 91 (Filed by Rep Duran on 9/13/2021) 
After passing both the Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee and Commerce Committee, sat on Second Reading on the House Floor. Was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 12.00 AM.
Lobbyists that registered for this bill were:  
Floridian Partners, LLC: Jorge Chamizo for Reviver Auto
Jeff Kottkamp PA: Barney Bishop for Airplate, LLC
Ronald L Book PA: Ronald L Book for AutoNation, Inc., Dealer Services Network, LLC, Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc., K.A.S & Associates, Inc. and Rana G Brown for AutoNation, Inc. and Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc.
Elizabeth D’Silva Alvi filed on behalf of Audubon Florida
The companion bill, CS/SB 1178 (filed by Sen Broxson on 12/7/2021), passed both the Transportation Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Committee, but sat in Appropriations from 2/17/22 without hearing. Was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 12.00 AM.
The only registered lobbyist firm that filed for this bill was Ronald L Book PA: Ronald L Book for AutoNation, Inc., Dealer Services Network, LLC, Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc., K.A.S & Associates, Inc. and Rana G Brown for AutoNation, Inc. and Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc.

Private Vendor License Plate Sales.
HB 555 (filed by Rep Byrd on 11/9/2021) never got heard in any Committee and then was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 12.00 AM.
Lobbyists that registered for this bill were:  
Mercury Public Affairs: Keith Marino Cabrera for License Plates of Texas, LLC [an indication appeared in the House Lobbyist filing that SB 824 was included, but was not filed in the Senate side]
Ronald L Book PA: Ronald L Book for AutoNation, Inc., Dealer Services Network, LLC, Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc., K.A.S & Associates, Inc. and Rana G Brown for AutoNation, Inc. and Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc.
Ramba Consulting Group, LLC: Allison S Carvajal, for Florida Automobile Dealers Association.
Capital City Consulting: Megan Fay, for 3M Company and American Traffic Solutions, Inc. d/b/a Verra Mobility
The Senate companion bill, SB 824 (filed by Sen Gruters on 11/4/2021) never got heard in any committee and then was indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 12.00 AM.
The only registered lobbyist firm that filed for this bill was Ronald L Book PA: Ronald L Book for AutoNation, Inc., Dealer Services Network, LLC, Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc., K.A.S & Associates, Inc. and Rana G Brown for AutoNation, Inc. and Florida Association of Motorist Service Providers, Inc.​

The moral of the story is, don't have Ron Book on the opposite side of your bill!

CS/HB 67 passed the House Commerce Committee, its second and final House Committee, with an amendment filed by Representative Tommy Gregory (R-Sarasota), an attorney and entrepreneur, and a long-time foe of the specialty license plate program. The amendment reduces the allowable number of specialty plates to 125, instead of 150, despite opposition from Vice-Chair Brad Drake,  (R-. The amendment was passed on a voice call, which Chair Blaise Ingoglia (R- ) determined was in Rep Gregory's favor.
Democratic Reps Joseph Geller, Anika Tene Omphoy and Matt Wilhite all voiced opposition to the amendment. Republican Randall Scott Maggard (R-Dade City) whose occupation is listed as "Vice president of a corporation", said all plates should be audited (obviously not knowing that they are) and Republican Bob Rommell, (R-Naples) a restaurant owner, said if there was no cap there could be 5,000 plates and made a joke about Rep Jamie Grant no longer being present. Republican Charles Wesley "Chuck"  Clemons (R-Newberry) a college administrator, suggested that the proposed Auburn University plate should be stricken, apparently in jest.
With 123 existing specialty plates (according to the latest Senate Bill Analysis) and 2 more approved plus the nine 'Divine 9' specialty license plates that are currently waiting to be produced, the remaining 33 presale voucher plates who are frantically trying to complete their presale requirement, plus 10 more potentially being approved this session, will have no chance of actually ever being created.
Funds will continue to be taken from the citizens of Florida who support these proposed plates and the state will continue to collect the additional fees that those citizens pay.
The sponsor of the bill Rep Alex Rizo (R-Hialeah), an educator and small business owner, welcomed the amendment, despite knowing that the 5 plates that he was proposing under his bill would now have no chance of success, including proposed plates for Down Syndrome Awareness, Inter Miami CF, Florida Swims, Gopher Tortoise and Take Stock in Children, who had members in the audience.
The Senate companion bill, CS/SB 364, will appear before its final Senate Committee stop today, Appropriations, chaired by Senator Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland), an investment property manager and vice chair Aaron Bean R-Jacksonville, President Pro Tempore and son of Lewis "Red" Bean, Fernandina Beach City Commissioner. This bill also includes proposed license plates for Safe Haven for Newborns, Pap Corps Champions for Cancer Research, Learn to Fly, Ethical Ecotourism and 'I Make Things' for the Florida Manufacturing and Logistics Council, as well as Inter Miami CF, Florida Swims, Down Syndrome and Gopher Tortoise, that are included in the House Bill.
The Senate version also seeks to reduce the presale voucher requirement to 2,500 from 3,000 and 4,000 for out of state colleges and extend the presale period by an additional 24 months.. The bill  has an effective date of when it becomes law.

​Representative Tommy Gregory, (R-Sarasota), an attorney and entrepreneur, educated at University of Texas School of Law, who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2018, has filed a bill seeking to create the "Stop Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Act" which, if enacted, will prohibit local governments and Specialty License Plate Organizations from lobbying the Florida State Legislature. In the last legislative session, Rep Gregory spoke to the assembled House of Representatives and told them he fully intended to end the specialty license plate program. His first step is to completely ban any not-for-profit organization that receives any funds from the SLP program to be able to voice any opposition to his proposals in the following legislative session, where he will probably then take his second step that he has publicly announced.
HB 501 is the second of 18 bills filed by Rep Gregory, the first was HB 499 (companion to SB 1298 by Senator Joe Gruters), which seeks to prohibit any governmental entity from entering into agreements with professional sports team unless the agreement includes a written verification that the professional sports team will play the United States national anthem at the beginning of each team sporting event held at the team's home venue or other facility controlled by the team for the event. Failure to do so would result in a breach of agreement and immediately subject the team to any penalty the agreement authorizes for default, which may include requiring the team to repay any money paid to the team by the state or any governmental entity or classifying the team as ineligible to receive further money under the agreement and may subject the team to a prohibition on contracting with the state. The bill further states that if a governmental entity fails to timely enforce the provision, the attorney general may intervene to enforce the provision.

​Rep Gregory’s current Committee assignments are Judiciary Committee (Republican Committee Whip), Civil Justice & Property Rights Subcommittee, Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee, Justice Appropriations Subcommittee and the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee.
Another bill he has filed (HB 6091) seeks to remove language that requires that an agency, when determining whether a firm is qualified to perform certain services, operate with the object of effecting an equitable distribution of contracts among qualified firms.
HB 501 prohibits local governments and not-for-profit organizations from using public funds to retain lobbyists; provides exceptions for local government full-time employees; provides sanctions for violations; authorizes people to file complaints with the Commission on Ethics; requires commission to provide a report to specified entities; and specifies procedures for disciplining violators. The bill has been referred to Public Integrity & Elections Committee, Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee and the State Affairs Committee.
The bill seeks to create a new statute, Section 11.063, Florida Statutes – the "Stop Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Act." The first section relates to local government and states that any county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision of the state and any department, agency, board, bureau, district, commission, authority, or similar body of a county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision of the state, may not use public funds to retain a lobbyist to represent them before the legislative or executive branch. 

​However, the bill provides that they are allowed to use a full-time employee who may register as a lobbyist and represent them before the legislative or executive branch. Except as a full-time employee, a person may not accept public funds from a local government for lobbying. 
A local government that violates this subsection may be prohibited from lobbying the legislative or executive branch for a period not exceeding 2 years and a person who accepts public funds as compensation for lobbying in violation of this subsection may be prohibited from registering to lobby before the legislative or executive branch for a period not exceeding 2 years. 
In addition to those sanctions that may be levied against a local government or person for engaging in lobbying activities, a taxpayer or resident of the local government may file a civil action for injunctive relief to prevent the activity or to prohibit payments of public funds for that activity and a taxpayer or resident who prevails in an action may recover his or her reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in bringing the action.
The second part of the bill pertains to any not-for-profit organization that receives public funds under the specialty license plate program. Representative Gregory might not be aware that the funds that the organizations receive from the SLP program are not ‘taxpayer funds’, rather voluntary contributions by Florda vehicle owners that are collected from the annual ‘user fee’ and, even according to the FLHSMV, are mostly tax-deductible. He is also probably not aware that FLHSMV deducts all the costs of administering the SLP program, over $750,000.00 annually, from those voluntary charitable contributions and that there is already a provision that precludes them from utilizing those funds for lobbying in another statute. 
However, his bill provides that such organizations may not retain a lobbyist, whether for compensation or otherwise, to represent the organization before the legislative or executive branch. There is no similar allowance for a nonprofit to use a full-time employee who may register as a lobbyist and represent them before the legislative or executive branch, as is provided for local governments in the first section of the bill.
A lobbyist may not represent a not-for-profit organization that receives public funds under the specialty license plate program before the legislative or executive branch. A lobbyist who violates this paragraph may be prohibited from registering to lobby before the legislative or executive branch for a period not exceeding 2 years. 

​This probably means that organizations that receive any SLP funds, cannot retain lobbyists at all, regardless of whether they are hired and paid through other sources. This would probably include Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, who routinely hire lobbyists every session, and Mote Marine. It does not seem to seek to prohibit FSU, UF and other colleges, sports teams or entities that hire many lobbyists every year and receive massive funding from the specialty license plate program.
In addition to the sanctions that may be levied against a lobbyist for representing the SLP nonprofit, a resident who prevails in an action may recover his or her reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in bringing the action. 
Also, a resident of the state may file a written complaint with the Commission on Ethics alleging a violation of this section. The commission shall investigate and report its finding to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor and Cabinet and based upon the report of the Commission on Ethics or upon its own finding that a violation of this subsection has occurred, a house of the Legislature may discipline the violator according to its rules, and the Governor or the Governor and Cabinet, as applicable, may prohibit the violator from lobbying before the executive branch for a period not exceeding 2 years after the date of the formal determination of a violation. The Commission on Ethics shall adopt rules necessary to conduct investigations under this subsection. 
This new act, if approved shall take effect July 1, 2022. In an election year, it might be quite difficult to get other members to support this, given campaign contributions will be in full force after the early session is concluded and many of those lobbyists who are involved with some of the targeted organizations have quite powerful check books.

​Rep Gregory has also filed bills for an appropriation of $350,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to fund the Mote Marine Aquaculture Technology Transfer and $5,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Education to fund the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.

​HB 555, filed by Rep Cord Byrd (R-Neptune Beach), an attorney, the 2nd of 41 bills he has filed, and SB 824 filed by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), a CPA, the 13th of 41 bills he has filed, have also been filed which will require DHSMV to contract with a private vendor for the marketing and sale of certain license plates; provides contract requirements; authorizes DHSMV & LBC to jointly develop review process and approve certain new specialty license plates; authorizes private vendor to conduct presales; specifies minimum presale voucher requirement; authorizes DHSMV to approve new designs and color combinations; authorizes certain specialty license plate organizations to have plates marketed and sold by private vendor; requires that certain paid deposits and fees be credited to the private vendor; authorizes certain dealer and fleet specialty license plates to be ordered directly from the private vendor; requires vendor processing fee for certain requests; specifies minimum specialty plate registrations.
A similar bill was filed last session and it failed to get a single committee hearing.

The all new Walt Disney World specialty license plate saw sales of $436,050.00 just in the month of September, and another $222,225.00 in October, bringing the total sales to a whopping $772,650.00 since the release of the plate in late August. Endless Summer, the top selling plate in Florida, saw total sales of $215,425.00 in the month of September and $214,575.00 in October, bringing their total year to date to $2,133.900.00, for the 10 months of 2021. The total in the twelve months of 2020 for Endless Summer was $2,160,575.00, up $390,000.00 from 2019.
The demand for the new Disney plate has been unprecedented and many Tax Collectors do not have any inventory to meet demand - including MyFloridaSpecialtyPlate. 
According to FLHSMV, as of December 1, 2021, there are now 13,369 Walt Disney world specialty license plates on Florida roads, making it the 44th most popular specialty license plate already, surpassing Indian River Lagoon (13.091) and United We Stand (12,910).
The great news is that most of those funds, from the $25.00 user fee, will ultimately go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Northern Florida, Inc. for activities and programs for critically ill children, once the FLHSMV have deducted their operational and start up cost, which is unknown at this time. FLHSMV also deducts its annual SLP program operating and management fees from the user fee biennial payments and also receives a $28 'metal plate replacement fee' and an ongoing $2.80 'advance metal plate replacement fee' with each order, in addition to the $5.00 'specialty license plate processing fee', generating over  $1,000,000.00 so far to the state coffers from the Disney plate alone.
The Disney plate also collected over 11,000 presale vouchers and the state charged a $3.00 processing fee for those presale vouchers as well.