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Committee adopts bill to direct new license-plate fees and endowment dollars to State Historical Society
Summary
The committee passed a substitute for House Bill 324 directing a $2-per-plate capped fee and a one-time $3.5 million endowment payment to the State Historical Society, producing an estimated $1 million annually under current assumptions.
Representative Peterson, the bill sponsor, told the committee House Bill 324’s substitute clarifies several funding streams to the Utah State Historical Society.
The substitute directs $2 from each sale of a specific license plate toward the historical society, which Peterson and sponsors said should work out to a $500,000 annual cap from plate revenues. The substitute also appropriates a one-time $3.5 million payment to an existing historical society endowment (which Peterson said is currently “a little over $6,000,000”), bringing the endowment to roughly $10,000,000; using the legislature’s customary 5% draw rate, sponsors said that would yield about $500,000 annually. Combined, the two streams were presented as producing $1,000,000 per year to the historical society under the assumptions in testimony.
Representative Thurston and Representative Dominguez asked clarifying questions about timing and treatment of prior donations. Thurston asked for confirmation that “everything that is donated up through June 30 of this year” would go to the historical society and that, starting July 1, the $2-per-plate rule plus the separate $3,500,000 one-time allocation would apply. The sponsor confirmed that understanding during committee discussion.
The substitute also contains language to address online communications and website text tied to the plate program; Peterson said the substitute updates the website language and “delineate[s] how the funding is going to go.” Representative Thurston also prompted the sponsor to clarify treatment of vintage or black-and-white plates; Peterson said he was not attached to maintaining an exemption for vintage plates and, after discussion, the committee approved a motion to remove language exempting new black-and-white replacement plates from the fee so that purchasers of the new black-and-white plate would pay the $25 contribution.
Committee action: Representative Thurston moved to adopt the second substitute for HB 324. The committee adopted the second substitute by voice vote and then adopted a clarifying amendment offered by Thurston about black-and-white plates; the committee then favorably passed the bill out of committee.
Votes and procedural rulings were made by voice; the chair ruled the motions passed unanimously.
