Senator Chipman appointed to Registration Plate Working Group

 AUGUSTA — Senator Ben Chipman, D-Portland has been appointed to serve as the Senate member of the Registration Plate Working Group by Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash. Registration plates are most often referred to as license plates. 

“As a member of the Transportation Committee, I am happy to serve on the Registration Plate Working Group,” said Senator Chipman. “The expansion of our specialty license plates has put pressure on our town clerks and Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It’s important to see if we need all of these specialty license plates, if they’re benefiting the state and how we can support our municipalities.” 

The formation of the Registration Plate Working Group was prompted by the Secretary of State and Maine Municipal Association raising concerns about the financial strain, storage issues and staffing burdens placed on state and town offices. The Registration Plate Working Group will look at the role of specialty license plates, the efficiency of having a variety of specialty license plates, manufacturing standards for license plates, storage systems for license plates inventories and more. The working group consists of two members of the Committee on Transportation along with representatives from the Secretary of State’s office, Maine State Police, Bureau of Motor Vehicles and others. 

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles will release its final report of the working group’s findings to the Transportation Committee by Feb. 1, 2022, and the committee will then have the authority to report out a bill based on the group’s findings.