Massachusetts Veteran and Decoration License Plates

Massachusetts issues more military plates than most states and the fee structure runs the opposite way to what a veteran expects: the general veteran plate costs money and the decoration plates do not. The plain plate. On application, the Registrar furnishes to owners of private passenger vehicles and motorcycles who are veterans as defined in G.L. c. 4, s. 7, clause Forty-third, distinctive plates bearing the word "VETERAN" on the left side. There is an annual $20 fee for these plates in addition to the ordinary registration fee. The plates also carry a distinctive emblem or decal for those awarded the Iraqi Freedom Campaign Ribbon or who served in Operation Enduring Freedom. A veteran holding a VETERAN plate may also request, for a fee attributable to the cost of issuance, an emblem identifying the branch served in, or the wartime service served in as defined in clause Forty-third. The free plates. The Registrar shall furnish without charge, for one private passenger vehicle owned and principally used by the recipient, plates for: A recipient of the Order of the Purple Heart, bearing the words "ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT" and "COMBAT WOUNDED". A recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star or Distinguished Flying Cross, with an emblem representing the award. A recipient of the Medal of Liberty awarded under G.L. c. 33, s. 67A. The HERO Act added a duty on the Registrar, in consultation with the Adjutant General, to write to all past recipients of the Medal of Liberty telling them they are eligible and enclosing the application, which is a rare instance of a state being told to go and find the people entitled to a benefit. A survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. A recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, with plates bearing up to three letters of the recipient's initials followed by CMH. A member of the Legion of Valor of the United States of America, Inc. A former prisoner of war, defined as a regularly appointed, enrolled, enlisted or inducted member of the military forces of the United States captured and incarcerated by an enemy during an armed conflict. For each of these there is a motorcycle alternative: a distinctive emblem affixed to a VETERAN plate rather than a separate plate. Active service members who hold the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross or Purple Heart and are currently on active service get the plate and emblem free as well. The Disabled Veteran plate is a different animal. Under a separate paragraph the Registrar may furnish plates displaying the International Symbol of Access and the words "Disabled Veteran" for a pleasure passenger vehicle or pick-up truck owned or leased by and used by a veteran who has suffered loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet or one or both hands, or the defined permanent impairment of vision of both eyes. This is a parking credential, and it turns on specific losses rather than on a rating percentage. Surviving spouses are treated generously and in three separate sentences. A surviving spouse may retain the VETERAN plate until remarriage or until they cancel or fail to renew. A surviving spouse whose veteran spouse never held a VETERAN plate may apply for one, if they have not remarried. And a surviving spouse whose veteran spouse's plate was returned to the Registry at the time of death may apply for one as well. For the decoration plates the surviving spouse generally may elect to retain them on payment of the ordinary registration fee plus an annual $20 fee until remarriage, non-renewal or cancellation. None of these plates is the registration fee waiver, and none is the excise exemption. A veteran at one hundred per cent or rated individually unemployable pays no registration fee at all under G.L. c. 90, s. 33(29), and can hold a VETERAN plate while doing so, but the $20 plate fee is a separate charge from the registration fee the statute waives.