Company wants Arizona to require new plates every 7 years

Tom Dorn, lobbyist for the 3M Corp., is pushing legislation to allow the Department of Transportation to force motorists to replace their license plates every seven years. Now, motorists keep their current plates as long as they want.

Dorn told members of the Senate Transportation Committee that it's a matter of safety, given that the desert heat can make plates unreadable. But it is 3M that provides the coatings that protect the plates and make them reflective.

ADOT lobbyist Kevin Biesty warned lawmakers that any change in the law is likely to provoke an angry reaction from motorists.

"They'll say, 'I've got this perfectly good license plate and now the government wants me to pay $5 for a new one,' '' he said.

Biesty acknowledged the plates on some vehicles do become unreadable after a period of time. But he said this can be handled on a case-by-case basis with police notifying ADOT, which can send letters to vehicle owners telling them they have to get a new one.

The committee approved SB 1491 on a 6-0 vote.