Idaho's Corvette License Plate

It's characteristically American--the urge to help, as American as our affection for fine cars. These are the opening sentences in the Idaho Corvette License plate marketing brochure, and it's also an accurate reflection of the philosophy of the members of Valley Corvettes of Idaho.

No strangers to charitable work, the members of Valley Corvettes have raised over $500,000.00 for various charities. Bobby Petersen, (Fairly Reliable Bob's) our club sponsor, suggested the initial idea for a Corvette Idaho Specialty License Plate. Valley Corvette membership was interested in expanding their charitable efforts and quickly embraced the concept.

Valley Corvette's members realized a Corvette specialty plate could be used to raise substantial additional sums for charity. In Idaho sponsors of specialty plates receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale and registration of those plates. The funds generated may be used to support activities as set forth in the legislation authorizing the plate. They also knew the Corvette license plate would be a great tribute to celebrate Corvette's 50 years as "America's Sports Car".

Making the Corvette license plate a reality required three steps. First, a design that met all requirements set forth by the Idaho Department of Transportation would have to be developed. Second, a bill authorizing the license plate would have to be written for submission to the legislature for consideration. And finally, a sponsor for the bill would have to be identified.

Jim Ball handled initial design work for the Corvette plate. He worked closely with project coordinators from Idaho's Department of Transportation to insure the final product met all design parameters required by the state. It was quickly apparent that for the design to be effective it would have to include elements that would be immediately associated with the Corvette. A decision to incorporate the C5 crossed flag emblem and Corvette name script necessitated a call to Corvette management.

With Corvette Brand Management's assistance permission was granted to use the trademarked items on the plate and the design was finalized. A copy of previous specialty plate legislation was also obtained from the transportation department and used as a template for the Corvette plate legislation.

The final leg of the triangle was completed when a prominent Idaho Senator agreed to sponsor the bill as it traveled through House and Senate Transportation Committee hearings and finally onto the floor of the legislature for a final vote.

On February 28, 2002, Senate Bill 1442 was presented to the Idaho Legislature's Senate Transportation Committee where it was met with enthusiasm and easily passed with a majority vote. However, when presented to the House Transportation Committee two weeks later the response was more muted. With the legislative clock running out Valley Corvette members individually lobbied the House Transportation Committee with many club members attending the hearings on the plate in person. The resulting vote saw the bill passed out of committee and up to the House floor by the slimmest of margins, one vote.

On the floor of the House, House members once again hotly debated the merits of the bill, but grass root lobbying efforts by Valley Corvettes members paid off, and in the final hours of the 2002 session of the Idaho legislature, a vote of 37 - 27 ensured passage of the bill. On March 22, 2002, the bill became law when Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, surrounded by supporters from Valley Corvettes, signed into law the nation's first official state Corvette license plate.

Nearly a year would pass before the plate would actually become available to the public. On February 14, 2003, the nation's first state Corvette license plate became a reality and it is now beginning to appear on Corvettes and other vehicles throughout the state.

With the Idaho Corvette Specialty License Plate a reality members of Idaho's Corvette Clubs have a great new source of funds to assist with their charitable work throughout the state. Valley Corvettes is proud to have helped make "America's Sports Car" a part of this charitable support for all the years to come.