Creates certain special prestige license plates

House Bill 506 creates two new categories of special prestige license plates in Louisiana and amends existing law governing high school license plates. The bill enacts R.S. 47:463.243 to establish a "blackout" special prestige license plate featuring white alpha-numeric characters on a black background with a blue line across the plate symbolizing fallen law enforcement officers. The blackout plate will be available to all Louisiana citizens for use on passenger cars, pickup trucks, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and vans, subject to a minimum threshold of one thousand applicants. The bill simultaneously amends R.S. 47:463.73(G) to add nine specific high schools to the existing list of Louisiana parochial, public, and private high schools eligible for special prestige license plates: Acadiana High School, Lafayette High School, Carencro High School, Northside High School, Southside High School, David Thibodaux STEM Academy, Ovey Comeaux High School, Early College Academy, and Edward J. Sam Accelerated School of Lafayette. These additions incorporate the named schools into the existing statutory framework for high school license plate creation and distribution.

The practical effect of this legislation extends to vehicle owners and two distinct beneficiary organizations. Louisiana citizens seeking to display support for law enforcement through the blackout plate will pay a one-time fee of twenty-five dollars annually in addition to standard motor vehicle license taxes and a three-dollar-fifty-cent handling fee per plate. Of this annual royalty fee, the department retains one dollar to cover administrative costs, and the remainder flows to the Louisiana Fraternal Order of Police as a charitable donation made through the applicant's purchase decision. Students, alumni, and supporters of the nine newly authorized high schools will gain the opportunity to obtain special prestige plates bearing their school's name, subject to the same minimum applicant thresholds and fee structures that presently govern other high school license plates listed in existing law. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor vehicles, bears responsibility for implementing these new plates once system upgrades accommodate their creation and the applicable statutory conditions are satisfied.

The legislation operates within Louisiana's established special prestige license plate framework codified in R.S. 47:463.73 and expands that framework through targeted amendments. The underlying statutory scheme requires the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to establish special prestige plates upon receipt of a minimum of one thousand applicants for a particular designation, ensuring demand-driven creation of these optional license plates. The blackout plate and high school plates must comply with R.S. 47:463(A)(3) regarding design specifications and display requirements for alpha-numeric characters. The revenue structure ties directly to constitutional authority over motor vehicle licensing fees under Article VII, Section 5 of the Constitution of Louisiana, with fees assessed as additions to standard license taxes rather than replacements. The bill authorizes the secretary to promulgate necessary rules and regulations for implementing the new blackout plate provisions, maintaining consistency with the departmental rulemaking authority already granted for high school plate administration under existing law.