<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1612978404747.png" alt="Rep. Barbara Ballard praised the creation of a new license plate as an educational tool for Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer. (September 2020 photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Barbara Ballard praised the creation of a new license plate as an educational tool for Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer. (September 2020 photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By LUCY PETERSON <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2021/02/10/kansas-lawmakers-consider-license-plates-for-military-service-cancer-research-educators-sorority/">Kansas Reflector</a>New,
 distinctive Kansas license plates could raise awareness, and in some 
cases money, for military service veterans, cancer research, educators 
and a historically Black sorority.The
 Kansas House Transportation Committee heard testimony Tuesday for four 
bills that would allow for the production of the distinctive Kansas 
license plates.<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2015_00_0000.pdf">One House bill</a>
 would provide license plates for current and veteran members who were 
honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force 
and Coast Guard. Individuals eligible for the license plates would be 
exempt from a $500 issuance fee for the distinctive plate.“Many
 veterans, like my dad, feel forgotten by our government,” said Rep. 
Aaron Coleman, D-Kansas City, in testimony during the hearing. “These 
distinctive plates are a great way to show respect and let our veterans 
know that we haven’t forgotten about them.”A similar version of the bill went through the House Veterans Committee in 2019 and was passed to the Senate, but failed.<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2166_00_0000.pdf">A second bill</a>
 would create distinctive license plates in honor of Braden’s Hope for 
Childhood Cancer, an organization that raises awareness and research 
funds for studies of types of childhood cancers.&nbsp;Anyone
 would be able to apply for a Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer license
 plate and would need to pay an additional annual fee, which will be 
established by the organization, of anywhere between $25-100.&nbsp;Braden’s
 Hope founder Deliece Hofen said during the hearing the license plates 
would support ongoing childhood cancer research and would raise an 
estimated $12,500 each year for research and potential therapies. Hofen 
founded the organization after her son, Braden, was diagnosed with stage
 IV neuroblastoma when he was 3 years old.“I
 see this as not just being something to honor your son or to 
acknowledge your family but as an education tool out there for other 
people to realize,” said Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence. “Also, if 
they know your story, they can have hope.”Kansas Educators Support Foundation founder Erica Shook gave testimony for a <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2169_00_0000.pdf">bill that would establish a Proud Educator distinctive license plate</a>
 and provide funds to the Kansas Educator Support Fund. The organization
 was founded in 2019 and aims to address educator shortages, job 
satisfaction and resources available for Kansas educators.The proceeds from the license plates will fund twice-a-year grants to first-year teachers in Kansas.“One
 challenge for first-year teachers is simply preparing one’s first 
classroom for students with little to no budget for supplies and no hope
 of a full paycheck for a month or two after school begins,” Shook said.
 “Knowing this, I set out to find a way to alleviate any part of this 
stress in whatever manner I could.”The
 amount of money disbursed in the grants will be based upon how many 
Proud Educator license plates are sold, Shook said. Rep. Les Mason, 
R-McPherson, worked with Shook to create a bill for a Proud Educator 
license plate twice in the past, and urged the committee to recommend 
the new bill for passage in written testimony.Current
 and former members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority — an international
 service organization founded at Howard University in 1908 and the 
oldest Greek-letter organization established by Black college-educated 
women — provided testimony in Tuesday’s meeting in support of <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2194_00_0000.pdf">a distinctive Alpha Kappa Alpha Kansas license plate</a>.Representatives
 from the sorority urged the committee to make Kansas one of more than 
25 states that have Alpha Kappa Alpha license plates.“It
 is our hope that Kansas will join in with these other states and allow 
members of this well-established organization to purchase this plate and
 show their strong pride in their organization, support of its programs 
and their pride as citizens of the great state of Kansas,” said Rep. 
Gail Finney, D-Wichita.There are nine Alpha Kappa Alpha chapters in Kansas and more than 1,500 members of the sorority, Finney said.“I
 was born and raised in North Carolina where we are the first in 
flight,” said Dorothy Hines, a member of the sorority and an assistant 
professor in the Department of African and African-American Studies and 
the Department of Education at the University of Kansas. “Today, the 
House Transportation Committee has the opportunity to be among the first
 20 states in the nation who have passed legislation for an Alpha Kappa 
Alpha Sorority Incorporated license plate.”Individuals who purchase the license plate would pay between $25-100 in royalties to Alpha Kappa Alpha each year.Lucy Peterson is a junior at the University of Kansas studying journalism, political science, and French. She has worked in several roles at the University Daily Kansan, KU’s student publication. She is from Denver, Colorado.

Kan. lawmakers consider new honorary license plate styles