Push to kill yellow license plate decal still alive despite bill’s death in Senate

An effort to eliminate the need for a yellow license plate decal for vehicle registrations isn’t dead yet, despite it gaining no traction in the Senate this Session.

This week, House lawmakers amended a larger transportation package (SB 1220) to add language from bills focused on the decal issue, which, if passed, would see Florida join states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Vermont in eschewing a physical tag.

The transportation package will now go back to the Senate, where members can pass it as amended, revert its language back to what they passed March 4, or let it die without a final vote.

If passed as-is, the change House members implemented this week would require all vehicle registration renewals in Florida to be recorded electronically, eliminating the need for a physical license plate sticker.

Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez recommended the change, which he says would save taxpayer money by relying solely on electronic records.

“The Senate now has a historic opportunity to move the entire package forward, deliver real savings to drivers across Florida, and prove that the future of innovation and technology in America will not be dictated by Silicon Valley and that Florida is ready to lead the next era of American innovation,” Fernandez said in a statement Wednesday.

The House passed its version of the legislation (HB 841) by Republican Reps. Tom Fabricio of Miami Lakes and Alex Rizo of Hialeah late last month on a 93-17 vote.

In the Senate, however, the version Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez carried (SB 982) went unheard. Its first stop in the chamber was to be the Senate Transportation Committee, but the panel’s Chair, Lecanto Sen. Ralph Massullo, a fellow Republican, declined to schedule it for a hearing in any of the nine meetings it held since October.

Notably, Massullo is the prime sponsor of SB 1220, which the House updated with an amendment by Panama City Republican Rep. Griff Griffitts on Wednesday that added the decal legislation’s language to the measure.

Fabricio, in discussing the legislation this year, framed it as a “monumental change” that would eliminate bureaucratic costs — this time cutting yellow tape, literally, rather than the proverbial red tape.

“We’re going to save the government money, which in turn will save taxpayer dollars,” he said in late January.

Fernandez, who called for the change in December, about two weeks before Fabricio and Rizo filed HB 841, estimates the change would result in yearly savings of $24 million, including $3 million in Miami-Dade alone.

But several critics of the proposal in the House pointed out that the projected savings wouldn’t directly affect residents, as the measure does not contain any provision requiring the saved dollars to be passed on to them.

“If this bill were to become law, the state will save millions of dollars,” Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani said ahead of the House floor vote. “Those savings should be passed down to the consumer.”

Rep. Yvonne Hinson, a Gainesville Democrat, cited the legislation’s lack of consideration for a $2.50 service charge Tax Collector Offices now use for staffing costs, which she argued could lead to problems if unaddressed.

“The state needs to cover (that),” she said.

Freshman Democratic Rep. Mitch Rosenwald of Oakland Park called HB 841 a “great bill” at the measure’s first Committee stop in the House, adding that he was surprised to learn how many cars are targeted for decal theft.

“So, (HB 841 is making things) not only more efficient, but it’s also going to keep people safer,” he said. “This is exactly the type of bill (to improve) efficiency and safety — seems like a little bill, but it’s actually, I think, a pretty sweeping bill.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the change.