Welcome to NoFreeGodPlate.com

What is supposed to be “free” but costs Indiana taxpayers $12 each time it’s made? What violates specific state policy on BMV procedures that everybody else has to follow?

What would Teddy Roosevelt have dubbed “irreverence” and “dangerously close to sacrilege”? Answer: Indiana’s “IN GOD WE TRUST” license plates.

It looks like a specialty plate, it smells like a specialty plate, it tastes like a specialty plate … so why is it given away and not sold as a specialty plate?

After four years of trying (and a shift to a GOP governor and majority), the Indiana legislature finally passed in 2006 a law enabling the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to issue license plates stamped with “In God We Trust.” Only two legislators had the guts to vote against this: the late Anita Bowser, a strict Constitutionalist, and Matt Pierce, of progressive Bloomington.

As 2007 nears a close, there are well over 1.5 million of these plates on Indiana vehicles. If people had to pay the full price for them — as buyers of other specialty plates do — we’re certain there wouldn’t be nearly as many.

Specialty plates have two letters and four digits. They are purchased by organizations such as universities, non-profits and “worthy causes.” [The BMV determines what is a “worthy cause” on a case-by-case basis.]

A $15 annual fee is charged by the state to anyone who wants such a plate on his or her vehicle. Often, additional fees go to the affinity organization, usually $25 per year. So for most people, a specialty plate costs an extra $40 per year compared to a standard plate.

There’s more. If yours is a non-profit group that wants a specialty plate, your organization must give the state $6,000 for the first 500 plates. That’s $12 per plate for Indiana to manufacture and $3 more by the time it gets to you.

The BMV guideline brochure for specialty plates indicates that law enforcement officials do not want a proliferation of specialty plates because it makes their jobs more difficult. The guideline is posted on the resources page.

With the state on track to issue 1.75 million IGWT plates, so much for the wishes of the BMV against proliferation.

Bottom line: Indiana has squandered $15 million in administrative costs. And this is the state that had to sell its toll road to make ends meet.

For a true believer — in God or the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution or both — these plates are offensive.

There is nothing reverent about “In God We Trust,” our national motto. And trivializing the deity even further by hanging it on the back of an SUV or a two-seat convertible is sacrilegious.

Our Position:

The manufacture and give-away of In God We Trust license plates should never have been approved by the Indiana State Legislature. These plates are a political statement and have clearly crossed the line between separation of church and state — national motto or not.

Our goal is to raise public awareness about the wrong-headedness of these plates. We would like to see them eliminated or, at least, see the BMV charge the annual administrative fee it levies on holders of other specialty plates. We are guessing that an extra $15 or more a year would keep “In God We Trust” off of vehicles like this.

This website is not affiliated with the Indiana ACLU or their law suit against the Indiana BMV, although we support their action in this matter.