A group attemping to get "Support Our Troops" licence plates sold in 41 states have had their efforts halted in Washington. It seems once the WA National Guard started asking specific questions about how the money would be distributed, it didn't seem like such a good idea after all.
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From the Columbian, Vancouver, WA
Saturday, February 25, 2006
By KATHIE DURBIN, Columbian staff writer
OLYMPIA -- A House committee tabled a bill to create a "Support Our Troops" license plate after the head of the Washington National Guard blasted the proposal, saying it failed to guarantee that a single penny from sale of the plates would go to help Washington veterans.
Oh, yeah, there's more...
Maj. Gen. Tim Lowenberg told the committee Wednesday that the bill would funnel revenue from sale of the plates into a Florida-based venture, the year-old nonprofit organization Support Our Troops Inc., without holding the organization accountable for how it spends the funds.
"Support Our Troops (Inc.) is not an organization set up to provide direct assistance to service members," Lowenberg said. "It is organized to support a middle man function to spend an unspecified portion of its revenue for its own unspecified purposes and to pass an unspecified portion to organizations that are represented to be supportive of military personnel."
The state established a review process in 2003 to assure that the sale of special license plates actually delivers money to the intended beneficiaries, Lowenberg said.
Martin Boier, president of Support Our Troops Inc., traveled from Florida to testify. He said the organization was founded in February 2005 "by civilians as a concerned statement of thanks to our troops."
Committee members peppered Boier with questions about his organization's plans for the money. In response, he said no plates have yet been manufactured, though he predicted that the plates "could be on the road in 41 states this year."
Boier said all the money the organization has raised so far through the sale of magnets, bracelets and other products available on its Web site is going to pay the costs of applying for the state licenses.
Good for the House Transportation Committee for stopping this. The organizers of the effort to sell these licecse plates might be well intentioned, but if you can't guarantee the money will get to those it's being raised for, there's no reason to give them the stamp of governmental approval.
Please check if these are being promoted in your state, and what guarantees they have about how the money will be distributed.