U.S. CONGRESS
Special plates have been issued to United States Representatives and Senators in Congress since 1938, when Louisiana claimed to have become the first state to issue such plates. Interestingly, 7 states still do not issue special plates.
Since 1933, Congress has always had 435 U.S. Representatives (not including non-voting members), and 100 U.S. Senators. The number of Representatives is in proportion to the population of each state, ranging from 1 to 53 per state, and is therefore adjusted with the next term after each U.S. Census. The number of Senators is fixed at 2 per state. The first session of each new Congress always starts on January 3rd.
The following tables show, state by state, when plates began and how many Representatives were in Congress for each decade, providing a clear idea of how many plates were issued.
VOTING U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
PLATES 1933 1943 1953 1963 1973 1983 1993 2003 2013 2023
STATE BEGAN -42 -52 -62 -72 -82 -92 -02 -12 -22 -32
AL 1970 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 7 7 7
AK 1960 * * * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
AZ (none) 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 9
AR 1946 7 7 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
CA (by 1940) 20 23 30 38 43 45 52 53 53 52
CO 1963 4 4 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 8
CT 1953 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5
DE 1939 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
FL (seen 1953) 5 6 8 12 15 19 23 25 27 28
GA (seen 1955) 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 13 14 14
HI 1961 * * * 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
ID (seen 1953) 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
IL 1958 27 26 25 24 24 22 20 19 18 17
IN 1948 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 9 9 9
IA (none) 9 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4
KS (none) 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4
KY 1982 9 9 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 6
LA 1938 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 6
ME 1955 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
MD 1953/54 6 6 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
MA (seen 1957) 15 14 14 12 12 11 10 10 9 9
MI (seen 1970) 17 17 18 19 19 18 16 15 14 13
MN (none) 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
MS (seen 1954) 7 7 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4
MO (seen 1/80) 13 13 11 10 10 9 9 9 8 8
MT (none) 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2
NE 1959 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
NV 1950 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 4 4
NH 1954 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
NJ (seen 1952) 14 14 14 15 15 14 13 13 12 12
NM 1955 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3
NY 1950 45 45 43 41 39 34 31 29 27 26
NC (seen 1963) 11 12 12 11 11 11 12 13 13 14
ND (none) 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
OH 1964 24 23 23 24 23 21 19 18 16 15
OK (seen 1955) 9 8 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5
OR 1949 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6
PA (seen 1958) 34 33 30 27 25 23 21 19 18 17
RI (seen 1955) 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
SC (seen 1955) 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7
SD (seen 1954) 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
TN 1954 9 10 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 9
TX 1958 21 21 22 23 24 27 30 32 36 38
UT (seen 1963) 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4
VT (seen 1970) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
VA 1971 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11
WA 1947 6 6 7 7 7 8 9 9 10 10
WV 1960 6 6 6 5 4 4 3 3 3 2
WI (none) 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8
WY (seen 1954) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
* Alaska and Hawaii Representatives began 1959 with 1 each (437 in 1959-62)
NON-VOTING U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
PLATES 1933 1943 1953 1963 1973 1983 1993 2003 2013 2023
TERR. BEGAN -42 -52 -62 -72 -82 -92 -02 -12 -22 -33
AK 1960 1 1 1 - - - - - - -
AS 1981 - - - - (1981) 1 1 1 1 1
DC 1971 - - - (1971) 1 1 1 1 1 1
GU (none) - - - (1973) 1 1 1 1 1 1
HI 1961 1 1 1 - - - - - - -
PR (none) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
VI ? - - - (1973) 1 1 1 1 1 1
