A Brief Dive into Illinois License Plate History
The First License Plates in America
1901New York becomes the first state to require vehicle registration, mandating that owners display their initials on the back of their automobiles. Massachusetts would follow in 1903 as the first state to issue standardized, government-produced plates, setting the template every other state would eventually adopt.
Illinois Enters the Road
1907Illinois passes the Motor Vehicle Act, requiring all drivers to register with the Secretary of State and pay a $2 fee. Registrants received a numbered aluminum disc to place on the dashboard - the state did not yet produce plates. The number of cars on Illinois roads was growing fast, and the state needed a system to keep up.
Illinois Issues Its First Plates
1911The state begins producing and issuing its own license plates. Plates are numbered sequentially from the start, a decision that would have long political consequences. Plates are renewed annually and change color each year, a tradition that carried on for decades.
"Land of Lincoln"
1954The Secretary of State introduces the "Land of Lincoln" slogan on Illinois plates for the first time. It has appeared on every plate issued by the state since, becoming the longest lasting design element on the Illinois plate.
Low-Number Plates Become Political Currency
1970sAs the Secretary of State's office grows in administrative scope, low-digit plates begin circulating as informal political gifts. Secretary of State John Lewis gives plate "0" in 1971 as a thank-you for agricultural policy advice. The practice becomes common: low numbers signal political access and clout, passed quietly between officeholders, donors, and allies. There is no formal policy governing their distribution.
Jim Edgar and the Secretary of State's Office
1990Jim Edgar is elected Secretary of State, and oversees both vehicle registration plate issuance. He now controls the distribution of coveted low-digit and single-letter vanity plates. Before leaving the office for the governorship, Edgar distributes single-letter plates to friends and associates, reserving the plate "E" for his own future personal use as a former governor. Edgar goes on to serve two terms as Governor from 1991 to 1999.
George Ryan as Secretary of State
1991-1998George Ryan succeeds Edgar as Secretary of State and serves two terms in the office. During this period, Ryan's office oversees a wide range of licensing functions including low-digit plate requests. Ryan approves plates for associates of lobbyist Lawrence Warner, who had extensive business ties to the Secretary of State's office. State Treasurer Pat Quinn publicly criticizes Ryan during this period for the political distribution of vanity plates, a rivalry that leads Quinn to unsuccessfully challenge Ryan in the 1994 Secretary of State race.
Ryan as Governor; Federal Investigation Widens
1999-2003Ryan wins the governorship in 1998. By this point, federal investigators have been examining his Secretary of State's office for years as part of what becomes known as Operation Safe Road, a sweeping inquiry into the sale of commercial driver's licenses and other licensing favors. Among the political favors documented in the investigation is the arrangement of low-digit plates for politically connected individuals. In December 2003, Ryan and lobbyist Lawrence Warner are named in a 22-count federal indictment. Seventy-nine former state officials and associates are charged in total across the investigation; at least 75 are convicted.
Pat Quinn Moves to Reform Low-Digit Plate Distribution
2012Governor Pat Quinn, who had been publicly critical of low-digit plate practices since the 1990s, attempts to reclaim and auction off the state's single-digit plates to raise money for veterans and underfunded state services. Quinn argued the plates could fetch as much as $25 million at auction. The effort draws attention to the fact that many of the plates remained in the hands of politically connected individuals and their families, some held for decades. No comprehensive legislation successfully restructuring the distribution of low-digit plates was passed, and the informal system was never fully dismantled by statute.