HOUSTON – Whether your passion is animals, the arts or education, Texas has a way for you to show your support.
You can pay a little extra for a specialty license plate supporting your cause … but that money may not end up where you intended.
Rhonda Heffernan is once such driver who wanted to show her support for animals.
"The animal friendly plate, the funds that are for that are supposed to go to spay- and neuter-assistance programs. So I bought the license plate in hopes it would help those programs," she said.
She paid $30 for the plate, $8 for administrative costs and $22 for the animal friendly fund.
That money is supposed to provide grants for organizations like SNAP, which last year sterilized 7,000 dogs and cats for free through its mobile clinic.
"And that’s going to make the difference tomorrow with overpopulation. It’s prevention," SNAP’s Laura Welch said.
But it might come as a surprise to people like Heffernan that the state legislature is considering holding back over $1 million in the animal friendly fund to help balance the budget.
And it potentially goes way beyond spaying and neutering animals. There are dozens of license plate funds dedicated to various causes, from the arts to hunting to fighting terrorism.
"It seems terribly unethical. Because everyone who bought those plates intended for their money to go to this purpose. And for the state to play games with dedicated funds – it’s just very unethical," SNAP’s James Weedon said.
