Texas Gov. Abbott signs bill banning paper license plates and temporary plates.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a new law that will replace all paper license plates with metal ones starting July 1, 2025, bringing an end to the state's troubled temporary paper license tag system. The move comes after a yearlong series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates exposed how criminals obtained car dealer licenses to access the Texas DMV's online system and print and sell fraudulent paper tags, some of which were used on cars involved in serious crimes. The Texas DMV has since implemented new security measures and suspended dozens of licensed car dealers suspected of using the state's own system to sell fraudulent tags on the black market.