New license tag to honor Girl Scouts Forman proposes specialty plates

The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Howard Forman, D-Pembroke Pines, went to Gov. Lawton Chiles last week. Unless he vetoes it, the plate could be available in about four to six months, state officials said.

In addition to the 31 specialty plates available, several more may come on board, including the Boy Scouts and the Police Athletic League, said Gail Christy-Jones of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The Girl Scout plates would cost $20, plus a $2 processing fee, in addition to the basic fee. The regular fee varies according to a vehicle's weight, but starts at $26.60, said Janet Dennis, also of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The extra $20 will go to the Girl Scouts. The money from tags bought in Broward County returns to Broward, said Ruth Patrick of the Citrus Council of Girl Scouts, which coordinated the license plate project that took about two years to put together.

Fund-raising isn't the only goal of the specialty plate.

``I think it's a great marketing opportunity for Girl Scouts to communicate that we're an important part of the community,'' Patrick said.

How the money is spent will be determined by the Board of Directors for the Girl Scouts of Broward County. About 8,800 Girl Scouts age 5 to 17 live in Broward, and about 4,000 adult leaders and volunteers are also involved in the organization, said Broward executive director Jeannette Archer-Simons.

The state has about 93,000 Girl Scouts and 34,000 adult participants.

The Scouts and organizations that want a specialty plate had to submit a petition with 10,000 signatures to state officials and they had to pay $30,000 for costs involved with creating a new plate.

If the proposed design is approved by state officials, the Girl Scout plates will feature the organization's symbol, three faces in profile, on a background of sky and clouds; the phrase ``For Her Future'' will be included.