A bill would restrict specialty license plate designs.

Rep. Lucy Allen, a Louisburg Democrat, said she filed the bill to help police and State Highway Patrol officers identify North Carolina plates.

"We now have at least 150 specialty plates, and more are coming along this session," she said. "Some of them are hard to identify."

Allen's bill would still allow state-issued plates to feature causes such as the Appalachian Trail or the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it would require them to have a standard "First in Flight" background.

She said the problem of reading state specialty plates has come up often in the House Transportation Committee.

Still, Allen said the bill has nothing to do with perennial fight over "Choose Life" plates or other hot-button issues.

"I have voted for every (specialty plate) that I've had a chance to vote for," she said.

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 661: City Managers on School Boards, Rep. Ray Warren

H.B. 677: Require a "First in Flight" Background, Reps. Lucy Allen, Lorene Coates, Nelson Cole and Becky Carney

H.B. 691: State Contracts/Slavery Profits, Reps. Larry Womble, Earl Jones, Annie Mobley and Earline Parmon

H.B. 708: Furlough of State Employees, Reps. Ray Rapp, Rick Glazier and Margaret Dickson

H.B. 711: Sales Tax Fairness Act, Reps. Winkie Wilkins and Dale Folwell

H.B. 724: Open Records Attorneys' Fees, Reps. George Cleveland and Curtis Blackwood