Illinois Lawmakers: How About Some Pope Leo XIV License Plates?

I didn't know until this morning that across the United States there are over 8,300 different vehicle license plate designs available in the 50 states and District of Columbia.

Here in the state of Illinois, we offer over 100 license plate options, Wisconsin has over 60, Iowa has over 80, Missouri has almost 200, Indiana has over 140, and Kentucky features over 150.

If you want the largest selection of license plate design options, you should think about relocating to the state of Maryland. Marylanders (or, Marylandians) have to choose from 989 different license plate options.

If choice is not really your thing, head for Hawaii. Hawaiians only have 14 designs to pick from.

However, given all that information, Illinois may soon be the only state in the country that can offer you a pope-themed license plate--because we're the only state that has actually produced a pope.

There's Very Little Chance The Vatican Will Be Offering Pope Leo XIV License Plates, So Why Not The State Where The Pope Grew Up?

The reason the Vatican probably won't be issuing license plates with the current pope's likeness on them might be because they've never done it for another pope, but I think it's probably because they only offer one license plate design option.

Instead, Vatican license plates differ because of their prefix, which indicates whether the vehicle is an official or residential vehicle. Official Vatican plates, like the one in the photo above, start with SCV (Status Civitatis Vaticanae), while residential vehicles use CV (Citta del Vaticano).

It seems only fitting that the pope would get the SCV-1 plates, right?

Here's What At Least One Illinois Lawmaker Is Looking To Make Happen

That lawmaker is Republican State Representative Martin McLaughlin, who recently proposed making license plates honoring Dolton-native Pope Leo XIV available to state residents, along with a statue of the pope that would be nearby the state capitol building.

From Representative McLaughlin's website:

House Bill 2083 proposes establishing a commemorative area on the Illinois Capitol grounds to honor the occasion. Importantly, the legislation also sets up a commission with the intention to receive donations. No taxpayer funds will be used. In addition to donations, all costs will be covered through the sale of a new specialty state license plate.

McLaughlin noted that in the first week alone since Pope Leo XIV was selected hundreds of thousands of bobbleheads and other related items were sold, indicating widespread public enthusiasm.

Reading through McLaughlin's proposal, I see that the commemorative plates would cost $27 (along with the existing registration fee).

Of the $27 additional fee, $15 would be designated for the Secretary of State special license plate fund, while $12 would go towards the Pope Leo XIV commemoration fund. The cost to renew the commemorative license plates every year would be an additional $17 on top of the normal registration renewal fee, with $15 of that going towards the cost of the statue.