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David Stanley Ford

New Oklahoma laws on the plate for ’09
REPLACEMENT OF CAR TAGS WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST VISIBLE CHANGES IN STATE

BY MICHAEL MCNUTT    Comments Comment on this article37
Published: January 1, 2009
Modified: December 31, 2008 at 11:10 pm


The new Oklahoma car tag.

Most Oklahoma vehicles will be getting a dash of color this year at no added cost to many owners.

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Other measures
Laws that take effect today
Electric utilities

House Bill 1739 establishes procedures on who can provide electric service in annexed areas of cities that have their own power systems. It allows electric companies to compete for new customers in newly annexed areas. It also allows a utility company to negotiate with cities on which parts of annexed areas will be served by the utility and the city.

Under previous law, an electric utility could go to the city council and ask for a franchise election on serving the city. If the city refused, the utility company could circulate a petition for a citywide vote.

The measure was supported by OG&E Energy Corp. and American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma. It was opposed by the Oklahoma Municipal League, including Edmond and 63 other cities that operate their own electric services in Oklahoma.

Fire-safe cigarettes
House Bill 3341 requires cigarettes sold in Oklahoma comply with fire safety standards. The paper on the so-called fire-safe cigarettes is thicker in two spots so they will go out if not puffed when they burn to these areas. The intent is to prevent fires caused when cigarettes are left unattended.

Some brands of cigarettes sold in Oklahoma have already made the change.

Tribal smoke shops will have the safe cigarettes, according to the law’s author, Rep. Michael Thompson, R-Oklahoma City. Tribal smoke shops buy their products from wholesalers, and the legislation requires wholesalers to comply.

Stores will be allowed to sell their inventory of cigarettes that are not fire-safe if they bought those cigarettes before today.

Aerospace engineers
House Bill 3239 encourages engineers and new engineering graduates to work at Oklahoma aerospace firms by providing tax credits not exceeding $5,000 a year for up to five years to engineering graduates who sign on with Oklahoma aerospace companies. It also gives tax credits to aerospace companies that hire engineers, with a larger credit for graduates of Oklahoma schools.

New tags for cars and pickups will be available Friday at all tag agencies, said Paula Ross, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Tax Commission. New tags already have been issued to motorists whose tags expire this month.

"We do have some on the road already,” she said. "After this month, people will really start to notice them.”

The colorful tags are replacing existing ones that have been in circulation 20 years, she said.

The tags are the result of legislation passed last year, House Bill 3326, which takes effect today. The design is from the late Oklahoma artist Allan Houser’s "Sacred Rain Arrow” sculpture at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. It depicts an American Indian, framed against a sky, preparing to shoot an arrow.

The tags will be issued to Oklahomans who apply for an original vehicle registration or who renew their registration. Personalized and specialty tags will remain the same, Ross said.

The regular tags are free unless vehicle owners want to keep their current tag number. Keeping the old number costs $17 — $15 for the plate and $2 for mailing fees. Applications for the Tax Commission’s License Plate Retention Program may be found on the commission’s Web site, www.tax.ok.gov.

Vehicle owners originally had to decide by November whether to keep their tag number, but the Tax Commission has scrapped that provision.

Ross said motorists can decide up until the time they renew their registration during 2009 whether they want to keep their tag number, she said.

The fee to keep the same tag number is expected to bring in more than $2 million; the money is earmarked for the Public Safety Department to keep its testing sites open for at least the next year.

About 1,600 new tags already have been mailed to Oklahoma motorists who paid the extra fee to keep their numbers, Ross said. Also, 2,400 are in the process of being sent out.

The green and white colors and raised lettering on the old plates are being replaced by digitally printed, maroon tag numbers on a pearl background.

The new tags feature the name "Oklahoma” at the top, with each of the letters bordered in gold. The bottom of the plate has a narrow blue band running its length, with the words "Native America” printed in pearl white. At the lower right-hand corner is a white Osage Nation shield, which was displayed in the middle of the old tags.

The new tags should help police and troopers. Many Oklahoma vehicle tags are difficult for law officers to read because the numbers are faded.

Vehicles for local governments, schools and state vehicles also will be getting the new tags, replacing the white-background, black-lettered tags. Farm and commercial trucks also will be getting the new tags.

The new tags are made of aluminum instead of galvanized steel.

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David Stanley Ford


Related Topics: Public Finance, Transportation, Taxes, Native American Issues


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I am quite late getting my comments in here.

The new Oklahoma license plates are severely flawed. The numbers and letters aren't stamped into the metal and the aluminum they're made of will completely melt in a car fire. I predict problems ahead with them.
Glenn, Mustang - Feb 13, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Hi Floyd, sorry I didn't get back to you on your last comment.... I lost this article's link for some reason.
David, Altus - Jan 10, 2009 at 10:43 am
For Julie in El Reno. "Indian Crap?" Grow up, educate yourself, especially living in El Reno. Your piddly little racist town (El Reno) would not survive were it not for the Tribes supporting your economic base. This state capitalizes ALOT on its Native Americans and brings in tons of revenue from exploitation of them. Those haters of the Oklahoma NDN tags, if you know so much, why didn't you submit your own ideas of what it should be?
EyeSpy, All Over The Place - Jan 9, 2009 at 1:59 pm
From an Out-of-Stater ..... really nice looking tag. Congratulations.
pat, jamestown - Jan 2, 2009 at 12:10 pm
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All day long I see cooter on here being negative. He is probably fat and lazy, lost his job, wife left him or something. But he continues to read the "oklahoman". Cooter, Go make a difference in someones life or your life. You might be a happier person if you wouldnt be so negative. It really would SUK to be you.
cooter and joe SUX!, duncan - Jan 2, 2009 at 2:04 am
Floyd, that's a great story!! I will pay to keep my same tag numbers because I know them all and don't want to change them. All our cars have personal plates anyhow, but sometimes if you're nice, the officer who's invited you to the side of the road for a chat won't make you dig the "real" plate out if you remember the number. (ha) I do recall, though, watching my dad change our car tags every year when I was a kid. They had the year stamped on them and the numbers were always the same.
Donna, Oklahoma City - Jan 1, 2009 at 10:28 pm
David, I bought a new Corvette about 20 years ago. Each year, since I wanted a collection of tags, I would kid the people at the tag agency that I bent the last one hooking up to my cattle trailer. By the way(off topic); as you probably know, I got married for the first and only time at 64. When I decided to propose I got down on my worn out knees and said;"I've loved you for years. I have 2 questions to ask you. First, will you marry me?" She said "Yes, now what is the 2nd question?" I answered,"Will you help me stand up now?"
Floyd, Oklahoma City - Jan 1, 2009 at 9:42 pm
paying 17 dollars to keep your tag numbers is a load of garbage. Y'all can have it. I wish our money loving legislatures would lower the excise tax whenever we buy new cars and register our cars. It SUCKS when we have to pay $800.00 to $1 thousand dollars to get a new tag. Your average person, especially the poor cannot afford it.
robert, norman - Jan 1, 2009 at 8:34 pm
One more thing, if I remember my kindergarten & grade school art class training right, there is something called "perspective" in painting & drawing. The new tags have these "decorative" designs of the small Indian shield and the arrow being fired into the air and the billowing clouds..... well, you can't see these details clearly from a car-length away. and I don't know about everyone else, I don't want someone driving so close to me that they can see all those details! Why can't we just have a tag with a simple white reflective background, the numbers clearly printed and the word "OKLAHOMA" on it.... and nothing else. If a small tag on the back end of a car with a picture on it is something that brings "PRIDE" to someone, then they need to get a life. Or better yet, see a psychiatrist.
David, Altus - Jan 1, 2009 at 7:49 pm
A couple of observations.... First, according to the news article- "The new tags are made of aluminum instead of galvanized steel." Whose bright idea was that? We've already got thieves ripping air conditioners and aluminum siding off of homes during broad daylight in this state just to get the aluminum [and copper] to sell for scrap.... and stealing grave markers for the bronze & brass. So what does our wise ole state fathers & mothers do... they make it easier to steal aluminum by putting out millions of sheets of pure aluminum-- each held only by a couple of 3/8 inch screws that any cordless screw driver can get off in mere seconds.... way to go Einsteins. Second, what happened to all the "Green" recycling crap that the government has been pushing down our throats for years? Why not ask people to turn in their old steel tags for recycling, when they get their new rag. Al Gore must be turning over in his grave! ;>)
David, Altus - Jan 1, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Looks nice. I think the state should have more than one background though, maybe two or three to chose from. Of course, there would be a standard then two options which go for additional cost. Anyways, It sure beats the "Oklahoma is O.K." moniker!!!
R, Seattle - Jan 1, 2009 at 7:17 pm
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Why all the complaining about changing tags? It wasn't all that long ago that was the norm for each year. It's not much different than changing the sticker if you do that right.
Bill, Holiday Island - Jan 1, 2009 at 3:57 pm
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ehhh.. it's a tag. I'm sure not going to fuss about keeping the old number. By the way it's more than the pike-pass folks that will need that. Your insurance company will as well. I've needed a new plate for years, the old one is all beat up.
Doug, Midwest City - Jan 1, 2009 at 2:17 pm
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The reason a lot of states change the license plates, (that is what they call them in most states), every 5 to 7 years is they lose their reflectivity. Most of the new laser devices the police use have a sight and they usually aim at the plate for maximum reflection back to the device. This gives them a better chance of obtaining a correct speed and therefore more possible revenue on speeders.
Skeptic, OKC - Jan 1, 2009 at 1:52 pm
"Obviously, your state only has Indians in it. Why else would you continue brand it as such"--Because there are too many examples of yokels in this state and they couldn't decide on which one to put on the plate. Besides most of them would be too fat and there wasn't enough room....
paul, yukon - Jan 1, 2009 at 1:02 pm
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Obviously, your state only has Indians in it. Why else would you continue brand it as such.
Robespierre, Montreal, QC - Jan 1, 2009 at 12:58 pm
At least when my car falls through the pothole in the crosstown expressway it'll be caught on traffic cam and my plate will be clear as day for all to see! Thanks for spending the tax dollars wisely Joke-Lahoma!
Cooter, Cooterville - Jan 1, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Bad roads but hey LETS GET NEW TAGS WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS! wow...
Stephan, Oklahoma City - Jan 1, 2009 at 11:54 am
The new tags look like a nice change. Actually, I associate Indians and Oklahoma, so it's a good fit. Plus, it's something more to rattle the born-again Church folk who are convinced that Native American culture is inherently demonic.
Joe, Yukon - Jan 1, 2009 at 11:52 am
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Wow whos bright idea was this one I mean this is really stupid!! Why is OK spending all that money on tags just to have MORE indian crap on them?
julie, EL RENO - Jan 1, 2009 at 11:48 am
Looks to me like the guy is squatting to take a dump...another milestone for okie.....
paul, yukon - Jan 1, 2009 at 11:29 am
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All of the indian nations have their own tags, now all oklahomans will have an indian tag. why cant we have just a plain oklahoma tag, maybe something non indian, i am not in any way being disrespectful to the indians, but i dont think its right that they all have their own nation tags, & us non indians have to have it on ours. plus they get theirs cheaper, whats up with that??
susan, chelsea - Jan 1, 2009 at 10:43 am
This state lost a great way to increase tourism in Oklahoma. Many states have include there tourism web site on their tags. With so many people using wireless web based devices, it is a great way to give people a way to know what there is to see in Oklahoma as they drive though. Anther opportunity missed,
Mr. G, Midwest City - Jan 1, 2009 at 10:41 am
For whatever reason, many states change their tag designs every 5 years or so. I don't give a hoot about it personally and I'm not wasting $17 bucks to keep my old tag number.
Big Daddy, Yukon - Jan 1, 2009 at 9:57 am
Cooter, stop reacting to your mirror. George, if the 5 minutes to change the tag is too much for you, maybe Cooter, sans his mirror, can help you. Personally I kind of like the new tags. It'll be a pleasure to invest 10 minutes of my precious time to change them out on both my vehicles which come due in the same month.
Earl, Oklahoma City - Jan 1, 2009 at 9:53 am
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