The governor of Nebraska last week unveiled new license plates for vehicles registered in that state. Nebraskans get a new license plate design once every six years.
Iowa, by comparison, keeps a design in circulation much longer and Governor Chet Culver has no plans to change the current design of Iowa license plates.
"With everything else going on right now, that’s not at the top of the list," Culver says.
Iowa license plates feature a white background with a landscape featuring both city buildings and a farmstead. A small patch of blue sky is along the top of the plate and the lettering is blue. The design has been in use since 1997.
After nearly 12 years, Governor Culver’s in no rush to change the design. Culver told reporters he may discuss the topic with the director of the Iowa Department of Transportation. "It’s something that I might talk to Nancy Richardson about," Culver said.
For a decade, from 1986 to ’96, Iowa’s license plates were a plain but bold blue with white lettering.
In 1983, after much controversy, state officials dropped the idea of putting the phrase "Iowa: a State of Minds" at the bottom of the plate. At the time, the head of the Iowa Transportation Commission said the phrase made Iowans look "pompous."