SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2149
As Amended by House Committee on
Transportation

Brief*
HB 2149, as amended, would permit, on and after
January 1, 2024, any distinctive license plate to also be a
personalized plate as prescribed by current law. Under the
bill, any license plate that is not military-related and is both
distinctive and personalized would be subject to a doubling of
the fee for personalized plates, which is currently $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.

Background
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 member of the Wichita City Council, 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.
____________________
*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
 Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of
the Kansas Department of Revenue, 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.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Department of
Revenue 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 would
increase revenues to the Distinctive License Plate Fund by as
much as $1.6 million. Any fiscal effect associated with
enactment of the bill is not reflected in The FY 2024
Governor’s Budget Report.

Distinctive license plates; personalized license plates; motor vehicle fees


2- 2149


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 8-1
As Amended by House Committee: 8-1