---
type: "Bill"
title: "Permanent License Plates."
description: "Permanent License Plates."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2011"
identifier: "HB 989"
citation: "North Carolina HB 989 (2011)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["DMV", "LICENSE PLATES", "LICENSES & PERMITS", "MOTOR VEHICLES", "PRESENTED", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED", "REP. HOWARD", "CHAPTERED"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 5
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2012-05-16"
last_action: "2012-07-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b6c40564-41d7-4294-a6c4-d949677759fb"
source_url: "http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=H989&votesToView=all"
source_hash: "b5406a7884866ba61e3abc7819033013fb001fa4cdfb9219e63538983e96fac9"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nc"]
---

# North Carolina HB 989 (2011) — Permanent License Plates.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H989v0.pdf)
2. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H989v1.pdf)
3. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H989v2.pdf)
4. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H989v3.pdf)
5. **SL2012-159** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H989v4.pdf)

## Votes

- Second Reading — **47–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Earle — cosponsor (person)
- Howard — cosponsor (person)
- Shepard — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2012-07-12** Ch. SL 2012-159 `became-law`
- **2012-07-12** Signed By Gov. 7/12/2012 `executive-signature`
- **2012-06-28** Pres. To Gov. 6/28/2012 `executive-receipt`
- **2012-06-28** Ratified
- **2012-06-27** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2012-06-27** Placed On Cal For 6/27/2012
- **2012-06-27** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-06-26** Ref To Com On Finance `referral-committee`
- **2012-06-26** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-06-26** Rec From House
- **2012-06-25** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2012-06-25** Amend Failed 1 `amendment-failure`
- **2012-06-21** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2012-06-21** Placed On Cal For 6/21/2012
- **2012-06-21** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2012-06-21** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-06-12** Re-ref Com On Finance `referral-committee`
- **2012-06-12** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-05-21** Ref to the Com on Transportation, if favorable, Finance `referral-committee`
- **2012-05-21** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-05-16** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b6c40564-41d7-4294-a6c4-d949677759fb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).