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No more paper license plates: new law tears up old system

Say goodbye to paper license plates — just not yet.


Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law Monday that puts the brakes on Texas’ paper license plate problem by tearing up the current system. The new law replaces all paper tags with metal ones. It goes into effect July 1, 2025.


“Feel relieved and, no, didn’t feel this day would come,” said Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, who introduced HB 718, which will eliminate all paper license plates in the state. “Bills this big, that make fundamental change in this state, don’t normally pass the very first session that you file them. So, huge relief.”


The move caps more than six years of KXAN’s “Risky Rides” investigations, and an equally-long fight spearheaded by law enforcement in Central Texas to stop what has ballooned into a $200 million black market impacting all 50 states. Goldman called it a “major problem.”


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TexasLegislativeNews.com | 2023

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