State rejects nearly 80 requests for vanity license plates last year
A Connecticut resident’s desire to drive a vehicle with a “MOMMYAF” identifier was quashed last year.
So was another person’s wish to emblazon their license plate with the letters “FARTYY.” A third who wanted to display the words “YOUSUCK” when they encountered other drivers in traffic saw dashed hopes as well.
The three were among nearly 80 vanity license plates the state Department of Motor Vehicles rejected from October 2020 to the end of September 2021. Most of the rejected plates contained some sort of profanity, according to data obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
In 2021, the state recorded more than $50,000 in revenue from at least 962 requests for vanity license plates. Some of that money is divvied up between various departments, according to DMV data.
The DMV can reject vanity license plate requests for a number of reasons, including offensive phrases, legal advice or a duplicate entry.
At least 36 of the rejected plates between October 2020 and September 2021 included profane language, references or slurs. Fourteen contained just numbers.
A handful attempted to substitute the letter “O” for a zero, which is against state rules.
The MOMMY AF entry did not include a reason for rejection — the phrase is repeated in the state’s data across fields. The phrase is the name of a parents support group and blog.
The “FARTYY” and “YOUSUCK” entries similarly don’t include reasons for the rejection.
Some version of “f--you” or “f--- off” was among the more common phrases reflected in license plates requests.
A request for a plate reading “IH8CT” was also denied, as were plates referencing ISIS and the mafia.
In addition to its vanity requests, Connecticut has a specialty license plate program that allows the state to issue plates with special backgrounds on behalf of nonprofit organizations.
To participate, nonprofits must submit several pieces of documentation, including a charter or bylaws, a letter of good standing from the Connecticut Secretary of State’s Office and “any Internal Revenue Service ruling on their nonprofit tax exemption status,” according to the state’s website.
In 2021, the most popular plate type was for animal population control. For one of its accounts, the state recorded at least 1,878 instances of people paying fees for renewals of this type of license plate, according to data.
A portion of the proceeds from the plate purchases help provide vaccinations and sterilization for pets adopted by Connecticut residents from a municipal pound through the Department of Agriculture.
Other popular types included commemorative plates, wildlife conservation plates, United We Stand plates and plates benefiting the Audubon Society, the data shows.
The state also instituted a requirement for a $5 aquatic invasive species fee for vessel registration renewals in 2020. That requirement brought in at least $495,585 in 2021, according to state data.