Sen. Diamond introduces bill to set standards for vanity license plates

AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, introduced a bill to strengthen the standards Maine’s Secretary of State uses to issue vanity license plates. LD 130, “An Act To Create Appropriate Standards for the Secretary of State To Follow When Approving the Assignments of Vanity Registration Plates,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Transportation Committee.

“Over the past several years, there has been an extraordinary escalation in vulgarity on Maine’s vanity plates,” said Sen. Diamond. “The degree of obscenity and personal insults that are currently allowed is out of control and beyond what most people would consider as reasonable expressions or statements. This bill is not an attempt to apply strict puritan guidelines to what people may display on their assigned plates, but these plates are state property. We have a responsibility to protect that property and set guidelines on how that property will be used.”

Sen. Diamond served as Maine’s Secretary of State from 1989 to 1997, during which time Maine’s vanity plate program was first implemented. In 2015, Maine repealed restrictions on license plates that could be considered obscene, contemptuous, profane or prejudicial, or which promoted abusive or unlawful activity. Maine law currently prohibits plates that encourage violence, may result in an act of violence or spur other unlawful activities. LD 130 would allow the Secretary of State to reject applications for plates under a narrowly tailored set of guidelines. This would include plates that are vulgar, contain hate speech or racial epithets, or that references drugs.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows testified in support of the bill, and noted that requests for offensive or obscene license plates are on the rise.

“Mainers love their vanity plates, with approximately 119,169 on the road today. While most Mainers show commonsense and decency in their choice of slogans, at least 421 have not,” said Secretary Bellows. “The First Amendment protects your right to have any bumper sticker you want, but it doesn’t force the state to issue you a registration plate that subjects every child in your neighborhood to a message the government wouldn’t allow them to see in a movie theater.”

LD 130 faces further action in committee.