The 12th Man may just get louder if a Senate bill (SB 5152) to create personalized plates for the Seahawks and Sounders FC passes the House. It was up for a public hearing in the House Transportation Committee this past Thursday and is scheduled for executive session this upcoming Thursday, March 21.
Funds from the plates would benefit two programs–InvestED, which helps secondary students with resources they might not have for sports and other programs; and Washington State Mentors, which provides grants for mentoring students.
Last month the bill passed the full Senate (48-0 with one member excused).
Mike Flood, vice president of community relations for the Seahawks and Sounders FC, brought the idea for the license plate for each team to Lt. Gov. Brad Owen.
“Mike said, ‘We’ve got a Mariners plate, we’ve got these other plates. Why don’t we have a Seahawks and a Sounders plate? We would like to have one,” Owen said. That prompted Owen to forward the legislation as a Lt. Governor’s request bill.
“It’s incredible. You get the best of both worlds,” Owen said. “We all love the Seahawks. We all love the Sounders. They’re great teams. They’re great assets to the state of Washington. A public hearing before the House Transportation Committee is a critical next step, and we are grateful to Representative (Judy) Clibborn (D-Mercer Island) for making that happen,” said Owen. He had mentioned that the goal was to have the plates available by January 2014.
In addition to all fees and taxes that must be paid for a vehicle registration, a fee of $40 is charged for an original issue Seattle Sounders FC or Seattle Seahawks special license plate, and a $30 fee is charged upon renewal.
Editor's note: Information for this story was provided by the Seattle Seahawks Communications Office.
