Skol! MN drivers could show support for local teams with new specialty plates

Fans of Minnesota’s six professional teams might be able to carry the team logo when they hit the road with a special license plate showing a contribution to the team’s philanthropic foundations.

Thursday, the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee approved HF401, which would establish two special license plates. Heading to the House Ways and Means Committee, the proposal is part of a policy bill, pared down by an amendment, reflecting provisions agreed to with the Senate last year.

There was some thought for an omnibus policy bill this year, but many measures will be moving separately, said Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Mpls), who sponsors the bill and chairs the committee. This bill contains measures agreed to last year by a supplemental budget conference committee.

It includes a provision that would make retired members of the National Guard or military reservists eligible for veterans’ designation on a driver’s license or identification card.

Support the troops, critical habitat, and plates bearing the logo of 26 different Minnesota college and universities are among special plates already available to Minnesota vehicle owners which denote specific status or designate money for specific purposes.

People who contribute $30 annually to foundations associated with the Vikings, Timberwolves, Lynx, Wild, Twins or Minnesota United would be eligible get a professional sports team plate bearing the team’s logo.

Included in the bill is a special plate memorializing missing and murdered Indigenous people, which would be available with a $20 annual contribution to the Minnesota missing and murdered Indigenous relatives account.

Any special license plates proposed this year are not included in the bill.

“We’re really examining the process by which special plates come to us,” Hornstein said, adding the Legislature will look at the issue next year.