If you've renewed your Missouri license plates in the last couple months, you've probably noticed a change in the form that comes in the mail.

Instead of the black and white form and postcards the state has used in the past, the renewal notice is printed in full color and stuffed inside an envelope with one of those little plastic windows in the front.

As government forms go, it's a good looking document.

But there is a growing group of people in Missouri who want the state to switch back to their old way of doing this business.

Um... why?

Because those spiffy new renewal forms come with a little something extra some people aren't too pleased with.

Those renewal forms come stuffed with an advertisement.

How it happened.

The folks at the Missouri Department of Revenue entered into a contract with a company called Imagitas. What's Imagitas? It's a company dedicated to providing "targeted marketing services" to a variety of clients.

In Missouri's case, Imagitas handles the printing and mailing of all the license renewal forms. The state sends a database of vehicle registrations to the company. It then creates the forms, stuffs 'em in envelopes and sticks them in the mail.

All Missouri has to do is pay for postage... so the state is saving about $44,000 a year over the old postcard version.

How does the state get this improved service for less money?

Ahhh.... that's where the advertisement comes in.

Under the contract, Imagitas has the right to insert up to four ads in each renewal envelope. The company gets to charge companies like DirecTV and State Farm Insurance for the right to appear in the envelope.

An invasion of privacy?

Missouri State Senator Tim Green prefers to describe "targeted marketing services" another way.

He calls it junk mail... and he says the state should not have a hand in that kind of business.

After hearing from an annoyed constituent, Green authored Senate Bill 190. His bill would bar the state from inserting commercial material into the license renewal documents.

It's legal... for now.

Back in 1994, Virgina Congressman Jim Moran authored the bill now known as the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).

Prior to the DPPA, "targeted marketing services" would routinely buy driver records in bulk from states and create mailing lists they would use to "target" their "marketing."

That's right... your state driving record was used to send you junk mail.

Moran's DPPA legislation put an end to that practice, but the congressman says he never expected a public-private partnership like the one Missouri and Imagitas have created. So this deal is completely legal.

Moran hopes to fix that soon. He's looking for a lawmaker from Missouri to step up and co-sponsor legislation to close this loophole at the federal level, thus ending similar public-private arrangements in New York, Florida, Ohio and Minnesota.

But it saves tax money!

Just about everyone we talked to about this story agrees Imagitas is just doing its job here and shouldn't be faulted for finding a creative way to access your driver record.

They mainly take issue with the state's decision to essentially sell that information to Imagitas.

But states are increasingly operating under a mandate to do more with less.

Imagitas' public relations person refered me to a paper by the Center for Democracy and Technology which lays it out thusly:

The use of commercial advertising in connection with government services is widely recognized as a valid means of generating revenue to support governmental goals. For generations, buses and subways have carried advertisements, the fees from which help keep fares low. Advertising can be an important element of public-private partnerships. Consideration has even been given to advertising on e-Government websites, and some experiments have already begun in that regard.

So is it worth it?

Are you willing to let your personal information be used to send you advertising if it saves tax dollars?

Click on the comment link below and let me know what you think.