I wrote earlier about Boise mountain biker Geoff Baker's project to get a mountain bike specialty plate that you could buy for your car or truck to support trails. Here's an update:

The proposed mountain bike license plate is now known as House Bill 486. The plate would feature a mountain biker and proceeds of the plate would go to Parks and Recreation or other groups doing work that benefits trails open to mountain biking.

Rep. Brian Cronin, D, Boise is sponsoring the bill, and Marv Hagedorn, R, Meridian, is consponsoring it. If approved, the plate would join a long list of specialty plates and could provided some much-needed financing for trails.

The plate would cost $35 for the initial purchase and $25 for annual renewals. Of that money, $23 of the initial and $12 of the renewals would go to a fund that shall be used by any such agency or department exclusively for the preservation, maintenance and expansion of recreational trails within the state of Idaho and on which mountain biking is permitted."

Similar plates include the ski plate, which was established in 1999 and had 4,175 renewals last year and 382 new plates. It's the most popular of the recreation-themed plates. The snowmobile plate, which was also established in 1999, had 1,153 renewals and 61 new plates. The whitewater plate started in 2004 and has 1,029 renewals and 136 new plates.

New specialty plates have a 3-year grace period, then must sell at least 1,000 per year, during a two-year period. So if a plate sold 999 two years in a row, it would be dropped, but if it sold 1,000 in one year and only 500 another year, it would remain in the lineup.

The new plate would be a net gain for the state budget, which seems to be receiving more bad news daily. According to the bill, "There will be no negative fiscal impact to the General Fund. Given the support that presently exists
for this special plate, it is anticipated that there may be a positive fiscal impact for the State."