Good things are worth waiting for‎ – although when we began we had no idea we would wait this long. It was in 2004, that Senator Wes Chesbro introduced a bill in the California State Legislature to create a Snoopy license plate. The idea was the brainchild of the California Association of Museums (CAM) as a way to create a stream of income which would be available to California’s Museums and Science Centers through a competitive grants process.

It was far from a smooth road from there to here. No sooner had Senator Chesbro‎ introduced his bill than the state put a moratorium on any new special interest license plates.

Granting license plates then moved to an administrative process that required a State agency to sponsor any new plates. Now the issue for CAM became which State agency would be a natural partner.

Then California’s budget cuts and furloughs kicked in. All the while the staff at CAM were making the project better and they did not give up.

Finally CAM did find a partner agency and could move forward once again.

This photograph with then Assemblymember Wes Chesbro is from a press conference at The California Museum in May of 2010. The purpose of the event was to announce that CAM was starting to collect names and email addresses of people interested in purchasing a plate through the plate website.

Finally, this past year new champions came to the fore, including Assemblywomen Toni Atkins, The Natural Resources Agency, and The California Cultural and Historical Endowment, and the end of the road was in sight.

Yesterday I ordered my plates and others in our office here have done the same, but CAM’s work is not finished. 7,500 license plates must be ordered and pre-paid before the manufacturing of the plates will begin. Over 11,000 people have signed up on the SnoopyPlate.com website as potential purchasers and now must fill out the simple form and send in the license fee of $50 (and then $40 per year to renew) or $98 for a personalized plate (and $78 per year to renew).

I eagerly await my plates and seeing many others on the road. ‎There are a lot of thanks to go around, and I particularly appreciate the support of originally United Media, and now Peanuts Worldwide for their support and input along the way. Peanuts fans in other states have said they are jealous that they can’t buy the plates. Maybe they will just have to buy a second home in California!

— Jean Schulz