SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2346
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Transportation

Brief*
HB 2346, as amended, would authorize “back the blue”
and City of Topeka distinctive license plates; require each
license plate furnished to have the county of registration
either printed or shown by decal affixed to the license plate,
on and after January 1, 2024; and permit any distinctive
license plate to also be a personalized plate, on and after
January 1, 2025.

Back the Blue License Plate
The bill would authorize a “back the blue” distinctive
license plate to be issued to any Kansas resident who is an
owner or lessee of one or more passenger vehicles or trucks
registered for a gross weight of 20,000 pounds or less,
beginning January 1, 2024.
The bill would require a $30 law enforcement support
fee for each plate issued to support the Kansas Chapter of
Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), Inc.
An applicant for the license plate could apply for the
license plate beginning 60 days prior to their renewal of
registration date on a form designated by the Director of
Vehicles. No license plate or registration issued pursuant to
the bill would be transferable to any other person, but the
Director could transfer the distinctive licenses plate from a
leased vehicle to a purchased vehicle.
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
 The bill also would require renewals of registrations to
be made annually in the manner provided in continuing law.
No renewal would be allowed until an applicant has paid the
county treasurer the law enforcement support fee and, if
payment of the support fee is not made at the time of
registration, the applicant would be required to return the
license plate to the treasurer of the county of the person’s
residence.
The bill would require COPS to provide an email
address to all county treasurers for an applicant to call for
information concerning the application process or the status
of the license plate application.
The bill would require the license plate to have a
background design with an emblem or colors that designate
the plate as a back the blue license plate.
As a condition of receiving the license plate or
subsequent registration renewal, the applicant would be
required to provide consent to the Division authorizing
release of the applicant’s name, address, law enforcement
support fee payment amount, plate number, and vehicle type
to the State Treasurer and COPS.
The back the blue plates established by the bill would be
exempt from the requirement for distinctive license plate
sponsors to submit a nonrefundable amount of up to $5,000
to defray the Division’s costs of developing the plates, but
manufacturing and issuance of the plates would be
conditioned upon receipt of a minimum order of 100 plates
with payment of the personalized license plate fee as
specified in continuing law. A transfer of $4,000 from the State
Highway Fund to the Distinctive License Plate Fund would be
made once the minimum number of paid orders has been
received. Continuing law also requires the Division to produce
this distinctive license plate for a motorcycle upon request by
the sponsoring organization.


2- 2346
City of Topeka License Plate
The bill would authorize a City of Topeka license plate
for use on a passenger vehicle or a truck registered for a
gross weight of 20,000 pounds or less, for issuance on or
after January 1, 2024.
The license plate would display an image of the City of
Topeka flag. The bill would require a person desiring this
plate to make a flag image payment, which would be paid to
the Greater Topeka Partnership Inc. as the city’s designee.
The bill would require a change of designee to be by mutual
agreement of the City of Topeka and the Greater Topeka
Partnership.
The bill would require the vehicle owner or lessee to
apply for the new license plate at least 60 days prior to their
renewal of registration date, on a form provided by the
Director of Vehicles (Director), Kansas Department of
Revenue (Department), after making a flag image payment of
between $25 and $100 to the county treasurer. Payment of
the regular license fee would also be required.
The registration or license plate would not be
transferable to any other person. The bill would authorize the
Director to approve transfer of the plate from a leased vehicle
to a purchased vehicle. The design of the plate would be
subject to approval by the Director.
The bill would state that the City of Topeka flag was
designed through a community input process managed by the
Greater Topeka Partnership, adopted by the city’s governing
body in 2019, and no individual or entity has intellectual
property rights regarding use of its image.
Under continuing law, City of Topeka license plates will
not be issued unless there is a guarantee of an initial
issuance of least 250 license plates, and a nonrefundable
amount not to exceed $5,000 is submitted to defray costs of
the Division of Vehicles (Division) within the Department for
3- 2346
developing the distinctive license plate. Continuing law also
requires the Division to produce this distinctive license plate
for a motorcycle upon request.
Require County Designation on License Plates
The bill would require each license plate furnished on
and after January 1, 2024, to have the county of registration
either printed or shown by decal affixed to the license plate.
The requirement would apply to a license plate for any
vehicle for which the Kansas motor vehicle tax of Article 51 of
Chapter 79 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated must be paid;
that tax is not applicable to vehicles that are otherwise taxed,
such as commercial motor vehicles and vehicles owned by a
public service company or car rental company; motor vehicles
registered for a gross weight exceeding 12,000 pounds; and
recreational vehicles. The requirement would not apply to a
distinctive license plate issued to a recipient of the
Congressional Medal of Honor.

Personalized Specialized License Plates
The bill would permit, on and after January 1, 2025, any
distinctive license plate to also be a personalized plate as
prescribed by current law. Under the bill, any license plate
that is both distinctive and personalized would be subject to a
doubling of the fee for a personalized plate, which is $40.
The fee would not be doubled if the license plate is one
for which eligibility is related to military honors or service or is
one of four specialized license plates for which royalty
payments go to state entities: Children’s Trust Fund, helping
schools, breast cancer research, and support Kansas arts
license plates.


4- 2346
Background
As amended by the Senate Committee on
Transportation, the bill includes provisions of HB 2346, SB
130, SB 229, and HB 2149.

HB 2346 – Back the Blue License Plate
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Transportation at the request of Representative Melton.
House Committee on Transportation
At the House Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by a representative of the Kansas City, Kansas,
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4, who stated the bill would
allow Kansans to show support for law enforcement officers
and would provide funding to support law enforcement officer
training. [Note: The bill, as introduced, would have designated
a law enforcement training support fee for each plate issued
to be deposited into the Local Law Enforcement Training
Reimbursement Fund.]
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police,
Kansas Peace Officers Association, and Kansas Sheriffs
Association.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to:
● Make COPS the benefiting entity, and
● Exempt the back the blue license plate from the
plate development fee and make it subject to a
minimum paid order requirement of 100 orders
prior to manufacture and issuance.

5- 2346
Senate Committee on Transportation
In the Senate Committee hearing, a representative of
the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, Kansas Peace
Officers Association, and Kansas Sheriffs Association
provided proponent testimony. A representative of the
Kansas Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4 provided written-
only proponent testimony. Proponents stated the license plate
would show support for law enforcement and provide funds to
aid survivors of law enforcement officers killed in the line of
duty. No other testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to add the
contents of:
● SB 130, regarding county designations;
● SB 229, as passed by the Senate, regarding a City
of Topeka license plate; and
● HB 2149, regarding personalized specialized
license plates, with an amendment to change the
beginning date from January 1, 2024, to January 1,
2025.
SB 130 – Require County Designation on License Plates
The bill was introduced by the Committee on Taxation at
the request of Senator Tyson.
Senate Committee on Transportation
In the Senate Committee hearing, Senator Tyson
provided proponent testimony, stating the designations
would help law enforcement officers identify vehicles. There
was no other testimony.


6- 2346
 The Senate Committee amended the bill to exempt a
distinctive license plate for a recipient of the Congressional
Medal of Honor from the requirement.
House Committee on Transportation
In the House Committee hearing, Senator Tyson and
Representative Johnson provided proponent testimony.
They stated a county identifier on license plates will help law
enforcement properly identify a vehicle.

SB 229 – City of Topeka License Plate
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Commerce at the request of Senator O’Shea. The bill was
referred to the Senate Committee on Transportation.
Senate Committee on Transportation
In the Senate Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by representatives of the City of Topeka, Forge
Young Talent, and Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce,
and by a private citizen. The proponents described the
symbolism of the City of Topeka flag and noted the flag’s
significance in developing civic pride.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
Senator O’Shea.
No other testimony was provided.
House Committee on Transportation
In the House Committee informational hearing after SB
229 was transferred to the House Committee on Legislative
Modernization, proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of the City of Topeka, Forge Young Talent,
Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, and Plug and Play
7- 2346
Topeka, and by a private citizen. Proponents stated the
license plate would allow Topekans to show their civic pride,
in this way. No other testimony was provided.

HB 2149 – Personalized Specialized License Plates
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Transportation at the request of Representative Hoheisel.
House Committee on Transportation
In the House Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by a private citizen from Wichita, who stated the
bill would remove the need for Kansans to choose between a
distinctive or a personalized plate and would increase
revenues for the Distinctive License Plate Fund.
Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of
the Division of Vehicles, who indicated she would support the
bill if it were amended to ensure certain types of plates could
not be issued with duplicate identifiers. Neutral written-only
testimony was provided by a representative of the Kansas
Sheriffs’ Association and the Kansas Peace Officers
Association, who also indicated a desire to assure multiple
plates with the same identifier cannot be issued.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to specify
distinctive plates otherwise exempt from relevant provisions
could be personalized and would be subject to the $40
personalized license plate fee in current law.
Senate Committee on Transportation
In the Senate Committee hearing, a private citizen from
Wichita provided proponent testimony describing the
success of the distinctive license plate showing the Wichita

8- 2346
flag and predicting increases in popularity of distinctive
license plates.
A representative of the Division of Vehicles provided
neutral testimony, requesting the implementation date be
changed from January 1, 2024, to January 1, 2025, which
would coincide with the next renewal of personalized license
plate combinations.
No other testimony was provided.
Upon amending the contents of HB 2149 into HB 2346,
the Senate Committee amended its provisions to change the
implementation date from January 1, 2024, to January 1,
2025.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on HB 2346, as introduced, the bill would increase
Department expenditures by $2,500 in FY 2024 for
administrative costs related to designing and manufacturing
the new plate. The Department estimates the bill would
increase revenues to the State Highway Fund by $9,813,
based on an initial issuance of 250 license plates.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on SB 130, as introduced, the Department
indicates enactment of the bill would increase its
expenditures by $20,750 to change approximately 83 license
plate designs to make room for the county indicator, and the
agency would have additional costs of $1,450 for IT
development and testing.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on SB 229, as introduced, the Department
estimates enactment of the bill would increase FY 2024
revenues by $10,000, of which $9,813 would be remitted to
the State Highway Fund and $187 would be retained by
county treasurers. KDOR estimates the bill would increase
9- 2346
revenues to the Distinctive License Plate Fund by $5,000, to
defray the cost to develop the new license plate. The
Department estimates that enactment of the bill would
increase expenditures by $3,750 in FY 2024 for costs related
to designing and manufacturing the new plate.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on HB 2149, as introduced, the Department
estimates enactment of the bill would increase administrative
costs by at least $87,750 with additional IT costs up to
$25,600 to implement the provisions of the bill. The
Department also indicates enactment of the bill could
increase revenues to the Distinctive License Plate Fund by as
much as $1.6 million if 20,000 individuals paid for the
personalized distinctive plates.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of HB 2346,
as amended by the Senate Committee, is not reflected in The
FY 2024 Governor’s Budget Report.
Distinctive license plate; personalized license plate; Back the Blue; City of Topeka;
flag; motor vehicles; fees


10- 2346


Statutes affected:
As Amended by House Committee: 8-1
As Amended by Senate Committee: 8-1
Enrolled - Law effective July 1, 2023: 8-1
Enrolled: 8-1