What is more unlikely: that a state representative’s first bill as a primary sponsor is passed unanimously or that a bill involves the Venus flytrap?

For District 56 Rep. Allen Buansi, both of those elements were true earlier this month, as he introduced and helped pass House Bill 734, which aims to formalize a Venus flytrap registration plate option for North Carolina vehicles.

The North Carolina Botanical Garden, which is based within Buansi’s district in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, has sought to offer a specialty license plate with the carnivorous plant on it for years. The garden’s nonprofit foundation teamed up in 2019 with the Friends of Plant Conservation organization in Raleigh to create a design and lobby for North Carolina to add it to the state’s wide variety of registration plate options. The plate earned enough pre-orders to present its design to local lawmakers and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Buansi’s predecessor, Rep. Verla Insko, sponsored a bill in 2020 that included the Venus flytrap plate alongside specialty plates for the Special Olympics, the Association of Fire Chiefs, and advocacy for electric vehicles.

But, as Buansi points out, the measure died in the Senate’s Rules & Operations Committee. This time, the Chapel Hill native’s sponsored bill puts the Venus flytrap design all on its own and it passed 112-0 on May 4.

“I wanted to take it up again this session and was able to get [some] Republican folks to join me on the bill, as well as another Democrat,” Buansi said during an interview with 97.9 The Hill. “The bill passed as a standalone bill and I was very proud of that happening. I’m very thankful for [Director] Damon Waitt and the North Carolina Botanical Gardens for pushing for it.”

“I didn’t imagine that this would be the first bill for me,” Buansi added, “but I’m very proud to put it forward and it’s something that would really help in a tangible way.”

The Botanical Garden chose to highlight the Venus flytrap as North Carolina is one of the only places the insect-eating plant naturally grows. While found in the area around Wilmington, NC, the garden says the Venus flytrap is becoming more and more at risk due to “habitat loss and poaching.” The $30 fee for the specialty plates, if approved, would go toward the groups’ efforts of improving the conservation of, research on, and education about Venus flytraps and other North Carolina-specific plants.

While his bill is now in the same Senate committee where the 2020 proposal was stranded, Buansi said he believes there’s a better chance for it to pass through the state legislature this time.

“I’m hopeful that the state senate will take it up,” said the local representative, “and I’ll certainly do whatever I can to get it over the finish line. If we do that, I’m hoping we can see some plates around town pretty soon.”

When asked whether he and his family would consider the Venus flytrap license plate, Buansi laughed.

“So, I actually was having a conversation with my wife,” he responded, “and [she] said yes, she would definitely get the plate. It would definitely be on one of our cars.”

 

Photo via the North Carolina Botanical Garden.


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