Texas lawmakers look to eliminate temporary paper plates in effort to prevent fraud

Texas lawmakers are looking to eliminate temporary paper plates, a move that law enforcement hopes will help reduce crime.

ABC13 has been covering the issue of fraudulent paper plates for years.

Back in 2021, ABC13 Reporter Mycah Hatfield spoke to a member of the paper plate task force in Travis County who told ABC13 counterfeit paper plates make it easy for criminals to hide their identities.

At that time, he said there were at least 1.8 million fraudulent paper plates on the roads in Texas.

RELATED: Fake paper plates causing real problems on the road and costing Texas millions

But a proposed bill could be a step to curbing the numbers.

If passed, HB 718, authored by State Rep. Craig Goldman, would force the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to eliminate paper tags, which law enforcement has vocally opposed for years.

A Houston Police Department spokesperson said they would not comment specifically on this bill, only telling Eyewitness News they support anything intended to reduce or eliminate fraud

The DMV would have two years to decide on specifics, establish rules and then get dealers shifted to the new method for tagging new and used vehicles.

SEE ALSO: Woman accused of operating long-running scam that sold fake temporary tags in Harris County