Mass. lawmakers file bill to create Blue Star Family license plate for relatives of officers killed in line of duty

Sen. Bruce E. Tarr and Rep. Steven George Xiarhos filed Senate Bill No. 2449 on Jan. 9, 2025, to establish a "Blue Star Family" registration plate and motorcycle emblem that the registrar would provide without charge to certain relatives of police officers killed in the line of duty. The bill would amend Section 2 of Chapter 90 of the Massachusetts General Laws to direct the registrar of motor vehicles to furnish, without charge, a distinctive registration plate reading "Blue Star Family" for one private passenger motor vehicle owned and principally used by an eligible relative, or a "Blue Star Family" emblem to affix to one privately owned motorcycle. The proposed eligibility is limited to an owner who is a parent, child, sibling or spouse of a police officer who served in a city, town or university police department, the Department of State Police or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police Department and "has been killed in the line of duty," with eligibility defined by the bill to match the circumstances that would make an officer eligible to be placed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. The bill also authorizes the registrar to issue a distinctive registration of up to six characters for one private passenger motor vehicle owned and principally used by an eligible person. The text specifies one plate or emblem per eligible person and does not include a funding mechanism for replacing or producing the plates. The filing lists Sen. Bruce E. Tarr of the First Essex and Middlesex district and Rep. Steven George Xiarhos of the 5th Barnstable district as petitioners and notes the subject area as Transportation. The bill text includes a cross-reference noting a similar matter was filed in the previous legislative session as Senate No. 2296 (2023–2024). Because the measure is a filed bill, it must proceed through legislative committees and floor votes before taking effect. The bill language directs administrative action by the registrar if the law is enacted; it does not specify how production costs or administrative adjustments would be funded. If enacted, the change would affect vehicle owners in Massachusetts who meet the specified familial relationship and eligibility criteria; the bill does not state how many people are likely to qualify or estimate costs to the state. The bill was presented to the General Court on Jan. 9, 2025, under Senate docket No. 248 and designated Senate No. 2449. Its next legislative steps—committee referral and hearings—are determined by Senate rules and calendar procedures.