{"id":3186,"date":"2025-05-20T11:45:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/?p=3186"},"modified":"2025-05-20T11:51:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:51:41","slug":"governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates"},"content":{"rendered":"

OLYMPIA <\/span>\u2014 Legislation that authorizes potentially up to 13 new special license plates and puts into place a more meaningful process by which future special license plates can be authorized was signed into law Tuesday.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Senate Bill 5444<\/a>, sponsored by Sen. Adrian Cortes (D-Battle Ground), would raise funds for different causes around the state. One of the plates would direct proceeds to the Mount St. Helens Institute to promote education, stewardship, and science at Mount St. Helens. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis past Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption, and I\u2019m proud this bill \u2014 benefiting causes like the Mount St. Helens Institute \u2014 was signed into law,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cFor many southwest Washingtonians like me, the day Mount St. Helens erupted is a day we will never forget. I\u2019m glad this bill will support educational programing at the volcano.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SB 5444 authorizes the Department of Licensing (DOL) to create six other license plates starting Nov. 1, 2025. This includes Smokey Bear and State Sport plates. The respective proceeds from these plates will fund important causes such a wildfire prevention and the construction and maintenance of pickle ball courts. This bill also authorizes six additional license plates, which will only be implemented if 3,500 signatures are submitted in support.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, SB 5444 directs the DOL to convene a special licensing work group by Oct. 1, 2025, to conduct a comprehensive review of the special license plate approval process. <\/span>The special licensing work group must look at establishing more active oversight of special license plates by the Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) and removing the ability to create nonreviewed special license plates. The workgroup must then submit a report and give a presentation to the JTC with their recommendations by Nov. 15, 2027.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The late Sen. Bill Ramos (D-Issaquah) worked closely with Cortes to put this bill together.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSen. Ramos\u2019 fingerprints are all over this bill,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cIt was important to him that we lay the groundwork for the creation of a more meaningful process for authorizing special license plates in the future. I\u2019m thankful we were able to pass this important legislation in his honor.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OLYMPIA \u2014 Legislation that authorizes potentially up to 13 new special license plates and puts into place a more meaningful process by which future special license plates can be authorized was signed into law Tuesday.\u00a0 Senate Bill 5444, sponsored by Sen. Adrian Cortes (D-Battle Ground), would raise funds for different causes around the state. One of the plates would direct proceeds to the Mount St. Helens Institute to promote education, stewardship, and science at Mount St. Helens. \u00a0 \u201cThis past Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption, and I\u2019m proud this bill \u2014 benefiting causes like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-release"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates - Sen. Adrian Cortes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates - Sen. Adrian Cortes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OLYMPIA \u2014 Legislation that authorizes potentially up to 13 new special license plates and puts into place a more meaningful process by which future special license plates can be authorized was signed into law Tuesday.\u00a0 Senate Bill 5444, sponsored by Sen. Adrian Cortes (D-Battle Ground), would raise funds for different causes around the state. One of the plates would direct proceeds to the Mount St. Helens Institute to promote education, stewardship, and science at Mount St. Helens. \u00a0 \u201cThis past Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption, and I\u2019m proud this bill \u2014 benefiting causes like...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. Adrian Cortes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T18:45:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T18:51:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bwilliams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bwilliams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/\",\"name\":\"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates - Sen. Adrian Cortes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-20T18:45:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-20T18:51:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#\/schema\/person\/b51296382f5249c05883a725d9276bba\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1970},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/\",\"name\":\"Sen. Adrian Cortes\",\"description\":\"Putting People First\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#\/schema\/person\/b51296382f5249c05883a725d9276bba\",\"name\":\"bwilliams\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa3f6e967f123e94679e3f928ea2a9883cd20b2b21d41d147b5ea47c78011d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa3f6e967f123e94679e3f928ea2a9883cd20b2b21d41d147b5ea47c78011d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bwilliams\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/author\/bwilliams\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates - Sen. Adrian Cortes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates - Sen. Adrian Cortes","og_description":"OLYMPIA \u2014 Legislation that authorizes potentially up to 13 new special license plates and puts into place a more meaningful process by which future special license plates can be authorized was signed into law Tuesday.\u00a0 Senate Bill 5444, sponsored by Sen. Adrian Cortes (D-Battle Ground), would raise funds for different causes around the state. One of the plates would direct proceeds to the Mount St. Helens Institute to promote education, stewardship, and science at Mount St. Helens. \u00a0 \u201cThis past Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption, and I\u2019m proud this bill \u2014 benefiting causes like...","og_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/","og_site_name":"Sen. Adrian Cortes","article_published_time":"2025-05-20T18:45:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-20T18:51:41+00:00","author":"bwilliams","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bwilliams","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/","name":"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates - Sen. Adrian Cortes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-20T18:45:35+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-20T18:51:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#\/schema\/person\/b51296382f5249c05883a725d9276bba"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1970},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/2025\/05\/20\/governor-signs-cortes-bill-to-authorize-potentially-up-to-13-new-special-license-plates\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Governor signs Cortes bill to authorize potentially up to 13 new special license plates"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/","name":"Sen. Adrian Cortes","description":"Putting People First","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#\/schema\/person\/b51296382f5249c05883a725d9276bba","name":"bwilliams","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa3f6e967f123e94679e3f928ea2a9883cd20b2b21d41d147b5ea47c78011d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa3f6e967f123e94679e3f928ea2a9883cd20b2b21d41d147b5ea47c78011d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bwilliams"},"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/author\/bwilliams\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2020\/07\/Featured-Image-2-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3186"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3188,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186\/revisions\/3188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/cortes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}