This year in California, Snoopy license plates were authorized to raise money for museums. About 4,800 people have ordered the new specialty plates with the cartoon character, but no one has received them.
California Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins wrote the bill that created the plate based on the Charles Schultz character.
She said the Department of Motor Vehicles has a policy of not stamping a specialty plate until 7,500 people order it.
"You know it usually takes a couple of years usually. It's not something that happens very quickly. People have to be aware that it's available, that it's there, and there's so many great causes," Atkins said.
For every non-personalized Snoopy plate, $40 will go to the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. The organization expects to collect about $300,000 for museums the first year the plates are stamped. For every personalized plate, $50 goes to museums while $48 goes to the California Environmental License Fund.
Celeste DeWald of the California Association of Museums said many of the 1,400 museums in the state could use the funding the plates would provide.
"Many of them are undergoing capital projects because their current facilities are in need of great maintenance or they need to expand the size of their classrooms to cater to more K-12 school children. There's just a lot of need out there and not currently enough funding to support all of that need," DeWald said.
If 2,700 more orders aren't made by Jan. 24, the California Cultural and Historical Endowment may appeal for more time from the DMV.
Typically, the DMV issues a one-year extension.
