SAN ANTONIO - Texans now have one more choice when it comes to finding the perfect license plate.
The "Native Texan" plate was officially unveiled Friday in San Antonio.
For an extra $30, drivers can adorn their bumpers with images of the Alamo and the San Jacinto Monument set against a Texas flag background.
Texas DOT
"Finally we have a license plate for very special people -- native Texans," said Elaine Milam Vetter, historian general of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, which operates the Alamo and other historic sites around the state.
But don't worry about digging out your birth certificate to prove your eligibility. Anyone in the state with a car can buy the plate, though Vetter -- who was issued the first plate to recognize her effort in creating it -- expects the public to police itself.
"I can't imagine anyone who's not a native Texan buying it," said the seventh-generation Texan, who counts Texas independence figures Ben Milam and Collin McKinney among her ancestors.
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Texas DOT Special License Plates
According to 2000 census data, nearly 13 million of the state's 20.8 million residents were born in the state.
The DRT will receive $22 from every plate sold to use for upkeep at the historic sites the organization oversees, and for education programs in Texas history.
"This is another way to raise money from the people of Texas," said state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, who introduced the legislation to create the new plate.
Vetter said it costs the DRT about $5 million a year just to operate the Alamo. The vast majority of that money now comes from gift-shop revenue, she said.
Along with the Alamo, the DRT's properties include the 19th-century French Legation building in Austin, the J.B. Wells house in Gonzales and the Cradle, a small structure in Galveston where the DRT's founders began to organize the group.
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