Minnesota Blatantly Ripps Off Iowa

Well, well, well, the big bad state to the north has openly and self-admittedly ripped off something from the state of Iowa. The worst part is, the big bad bullies up north don't even care! They know this idea comes from the state of Iowa and it appears that Minnesota has no qualms with "borrowing" ideas from the Hawkeye state.

Minnesota's Governor is Tim Walz and he jumped on social media on January 9th to present brand new license plates that are available for purchase in Minnesota. Do these look a little bit familiar to you? You might even have these on your car. If you don't, you've seen them.

Minnesota blackout license plates have been selling rapidly since they became available to Minnesotans. According to Kare11 news, "more than 3,800 blackout plates have been sold statewide in the first few days of availability."

I moved to Iowa from Minnesota 2 years ago and one of the first things my wife and I noticed when moving was the variety of license plates in Iowa. There are so many different styles of plates on the roadways. There's the blackout plate, the standard issues plate, the black and gold Hawkeye plate, the Iowa Cyclones plate, the ISU plate, various habitat plates, etc. The list seems endless.

I'd like to compare which states have the biggest variety of license plates and see where Iowa ranks. It has to be in the top 5. I'm convinced Iowa has the most unique license plates in the country.

In Minnesota, there are pretty much 2. There's the standard blue, white, and green plate, and then the occasional critical habitat plate. That's about it. Minnesota offers a ton of specialty plates, you just don't see very many of them. At least I didn't in my 30 years of living there. Minnesota is finally offering Minnesota Vikings, Twins, Wild, Timberwolves, and Lynx plates.

Minnesota has 5 major professional sports teams and just now, in 2024, are they offering plates for people to show off their favorite sports teams. Doesn't that sound a bit archaic?

I wonder how long before other states jump on the bandwagon and start ripping off ideas from Iowa? I'm sure every state will eventually start selling blackout plates. It's clear they help make money. Do you know the story of how Iowa's blackout plate got started or have you seen the list of "personality plates" that have been rejected in Iowa?

I think Minnesota needs to send a gift basket to Dordt University for their "new" blackout plates.