Two groups bid for 'In God We Trust' license

Kentucky.com

February 16, 2008

FRANKFORT The effort to create a state 'In God We Trust' license plate is causing some controversy, and not because of questions about separation of church and state.

Rather, there are two different groups proposing a plate with the same motto. One is a non-profit that raises awareness of what it believes are damages caused by pornography and the sex trade. The other is the legislature.

Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK), the non-profit, applied Nov. 26 to the state Transportation Cabinet to establish a specialty 'In God We Trust' plate six weeks before state Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, filed House Bill 207 to create the same plate.

If ROCK's application had been approved by the Transportation Cabinet, it could have received money for programs from the sale of the plates. Under the bill in the legislature, however, the money is designated to help homeless and needy veterans.

The organization contacted legislators about letting its proposal go forward and offered to meet with lawmakers. However, group members think Rep. Hubert Collins, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, used information from ROCK's research as a guide in revising HB 207, then quickly moved the measure through his committee without meeting with the group.

'They used the work product as a road map to go forward after they heard about our idea,' said MaryAnn Gramig, policy director for ROCK.

Michael Aldridge, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the initial version of HB 207 referred to the 'In God We Trust' plate under the law covering regular plates. He questioned whether that could raise a legal issue over state endorsement of religion, but Collins' amendment put that to rest by making 'In God We Trust' a specialty plate, Aldridge said.

However, Collins, D-Wittensville, said he didn't use any information from ROCK to prepare a substitute for Gooch's original bill.

Collins said that after the bill was passed by his committee, he didn't feel a need to call ROCK members back.

The issue has caused some hard feelings. In a Web site posting, ROCK said it respects veterans and is 'sickened that their integrity and sacrifice is being exploited' by some legislators for political gain.

Collins' committee approved HB 207 Tuesday. The full House has not considered it.

It's not clear how the competing proposals will be resolved. Collins said he is not interested in shelving HB 207 to allow ROCK to benefit from a specialty plate.

But ROCK hopes lawmakers will let its proposed plate go forward after they learn more about it.

'I think we all share the common goal of getting the plate out,' said Bryan Wickens, ROCK's president.

Under the current version of the bill, when people buy an 'In God We Trust' plate, $10 would automatically be added to the price unless the buyer opted out. The extra $10 would go to the trust fund for veterans.

Under ROCK's application, it would have gotten the voluntary $10 donations.

Millions for a cause

A lot of money could be at stake.

Indiana sold 1.6 million 'In God We Trust' plates last year, according to the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Kentucky has a smaller population, but with more than 3.4 million passenger vehicles on the road, it appears a similar plate here could generate millions.

The Web site of Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana, based in Louisville, says its goal is to 'defend and sustain the Judeo-Christian principles upon which our country was founded.'

The organization works to help women who want out of the sex trade, people with pornography addictions, and parents concerned about sexual content and predators on the Internet, and it hoped to raise money to expand its efforts, Wickens said.

ROCK researched the legalities of an 'In God We Trust' plate and put a proposed design on its Web site. It could have quickly lined up the 900 buyers required for the state to begin making the plate, Wickens said.

'We were geared up, ready,' Wickens said.

Collins said he supports ROCK's goals but felt the organization hadn't been specific enough about how it planned to use money from the license plate, leaving room for abuse.

Wickens countered that ROCK's application was specific and that the organization would have used the money according to the law.

ROCK's application had not been approved by the Trasportation Cabinet when Gooch filed HB 207. Gooch had filed a bill request before the application from ROCK; he said he decided to propose the plate after workers in a county clerk's office asked him why the state didn't have one.

A slower decision

The cabinet did not make a decision on ROCK's request as quickly as it

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