Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill into law banning temporary license plates in Texas
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – It's official: temporary paper license plates will be eliminated from Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB718 by Rep. Craig Goldman into the law Monday afternoon.
Paper tags have long been blamed for massive fraud across the state. CBS News Texas first exposed the problem back in 2017.
Critics say it's too easy to copy a fake plate and print it off. Earlier this year, Doug Dunbar got a firsthand look at the problem of "ghost cars" through the eyes of Grand Prairie police. Chief Daniel Scesney took up the cause - vowing to get rid of paper tags for good - after one of his officers died while chasing a car with a fake plate.
We recently sat back down with Chief Scesney as he reflected on months of road trips to Austin and meetings with lawmakers, as he fought to change the way the state issues license plates.
"In spirit, everyone was on board," said Scesney. "I think even the auto dealers agreed this is a problem. It was working out the specific logistics - and there's a lot of them. But when you look at this through the lens of what's best for Texas, all that stuff melts away."
Scesney believes the focus on Texans is what helped win the fight. "You've got to think about how many people in Texas are being victimized," he said. "Either through loss of a loved one, their property being stolen, or their back pocket. If you look at it through that lens, then things get fixed."
Rep. Goldman says Scesney is "someone special." The Fort Worth Republican recalled the chief's dedication to being at every meeting and committee hearing, sometimes driving back and forth from Austin multiple times in a day. "He was committed to seeing this through."
Goldman said he first became aware of the paper plates issue during his trips down I-35 to Austin over the last eight years as a state representative. He originally planned to file the bill in the 2021 session but decided against it so he could focus on the energy issues uncovered by Winter Storm Uri that February.
Still, Goldman says he was "shocked" that HB718 made it to the finish line, saying "bills like this aren't supposed to pass in one session." He credits the work of Sen. Royce West and Sen. Robert Nichols, both of whom he says were instrumental in moving the legislation through the Senate.
While HB718 is now law, it will not go into effect until July 2025 to give the DMV, county tax offices, and auto dealers time to build a new inventory and management system.