New specialty license plates, including one honoring Jimmy Buffett, soon headed to Florida roads

The Senate has unanimously voted to approve a group of new specialty license plates headed to vehicles in the state, while changing rules for plates commemorating colleges and a group of Black fraternities and sororities.

With the House already having approved this legislation (HB 403), the measure will next move to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.

The plates run a gamut, including one honoring the recently-deceased legendary troubadour Jimmy Buffett and his Singing for Change charity, which seeks to “inspire personal growth, community integration and the enhanced awareness that collectively, people can bring about positive change.”

This isn’t the only Buffett bill moving.

SB 84, carried by Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, is on Tuesday’s Senate Special Order calendar. It would designate State Road A1A as “Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.” It would allocate $23,400 to the Florida Department of Transportation, with markers being installed by the end of August.

Additionally, plates honoring the Aerospace Center for Excellence, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, United Service Organizations (USO), Recycle Florida Today Foundation, Captain Sandy Yawn, Cure Diabetes, Project Addiction: Reversing the Stigma, and The Villages Charter School.

Singing for Change, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the Aerospace Center, and the three organizations under the “Cure Diabetes” banner (the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation; The JDRF International Incorporated; and The University of Florida Foundation, Inc., which supports the University of Florida Diabetes Institute), and the Villages Charter School can use up to 10% of the proceeds for marketing purposes.

The bill also exempts low-performing collegiate license plates from discontinuation, and allows the Divine Nine plate that honors traditionally Black fraternities and sororities to be obtained by family members of alumni of those organizations.