ARTICLE 9.  REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF LICENSE PLATES ISSUED
	SECTION 9.01.   Subchapter A, Chapter 502, Transportation 
Code, is amended by adding Section 502.010 to read as follows:
	Sec. 502.010.  ISSUANCE AND DISPLAY OF LICENSE PLATE.  (a)  
Notwithstanding anything in this code to the contrary, including 
Section 502.180, the department shall issue only one license plate 
for attachment at the rear of the vehicle for which the plate is 
issued.
	(b)  Notwithstanding anything in this code to the contrary, 
including Section 502.404(a), a person is entitled to operate on a 
public highway a vehicle that displays only one license plate if the 
plate is attached at the rear of the vehicle.  A person may operate 
on a public highway a vehicle that displays two license plates if 
both plates were assigned by the department for the registration 
period as a set of plates.
	(c)  In any provision of this code that relates to the 
issuance or display of "license plates," "plates," or a "set of 
plates," the term means only one license plate.
	SECTION 9.02.  The change in law made by this article 
regarding the issuance of license plates by the Texas Department of 
Transportation applies only to the issuance of license plates by 
the department for a registration period beginning on or after the 
effective date of this article.  For a registration period that 
begins before the effective date of this article, the department 
shall issue license plates as required by the law in effect 
immediately before the effective date of this article, and the 
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 9.03.  This article takes effect September 1, 2005.