State Sen. Stephen Brewer said a firefighters plate would promote esprit de corps and help give firefighters quick access to an emergency while driving their private vehicles.
View full sizeFormer firefighter Kevin Brailey shows off a collection of firefighter specialty plates from other states. Brailey is supporting a bill that will allow firefighter specialty plates in Massachusetts.BOSTON – Military veterans, state legislators and National Guard members are allowed special license plates in Massachusetts, elevating their status on the roads.
Firefighters would like to be next. Supporters say a special plate is aimed at helping identify firefighters when they respond to emergencies in their private vehicles and providing a way to raise money for training of firefighters.
Kevin L. Brailey, a former volunteer firefighter from Swansea, is working to pass a bill on Beacon Hill to establish a special plate for only firefighters.
"It would be a valuable tool for emergency management," said Brailey, 47, who is attending the New England Fire, Rescue and EMS Conference this weekend in West Springfield and is a collector of firefighter license plates that have approved in all but five states. "It's very important."
Brailey said the design of the proposed plate would be decided after the bill is approved. A concept for the design shows the word "firefighter" at the bottom, the capital letters FD at the start of a number and a drawing on the side of the Maltese Cross, the symbol of the fire service.
Some key legislators are getting behind the effort.
This is a concept for a proposed license plate for Massachusetts firefighters.Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, is teaming up with Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia A. Haddad of Somerset to sponsor legislation that would create a special firefighter plate for private motor vehicles. Brewer and Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo, D-Springfield, have a separate bill for a firefighter plate for private motorcycles.
Those two bills are awaiting the scheduling of public hearings before the Joint Committee on Transportation.
The plates would be just for firefighters, similar to plates that are issued only for National Guard members, and certain military veterans or the families of veterans killed in action while serving during a war.
In an interview, Brewer said a plate for firefighters would promote "esprit de corps" and would help give firefighters quick access to an emergency in their private vehicles. Brewer said the first three minutes of any fire are critical for responders.
Brewer said plenty of firefighters would sign up for a special plate. Brewer is noted for his efforts on behalf of firefighters, having previously sponsored a 2005 law that requires communities to purchase life insurance for volunteer firefighters.
Sen. Stephen Brewer is sponsoring bills to create a license plate for firefighters.Brailey said a bill needs to be passed because the proposed plates would be available only to firefighters, retired firefighters or immediate family members of a firefighter killed in the line of duty, not the public. He said a good model is Kansas, which has offered a plate just for firefighters since 2004.
According to the bill, firefighters could obtain plates by paying regular fees plus a $10 fee that would go to a trust fund for the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Stow.
Under a state law in Massachusetts, charities do not need to pass a bill to create a special plate open to the public. According to current law, a group is required to collect 1,500 pre-paid applications for a special plate and post $100,000 bond before any plates are manufactured. Instead of a bond, 3,000 pre-paid applications can be collected, according to the web site of the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Anyone can buy a charitable plate for $40 with $28 going to the sponsoring organization. There are 18 kinds of special plates just for charities including a "Massachusetts fallen firefighter memorial plate," established to help finance a memorial on Beacon Hill.
Brailey is pushing a third bill to create a voluntary contribution option on state tax forms to raise money for a trust fund for the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Stow. That bill is pending after a public hearing by the Joint Committee on Revenue.
Brailey said a special plate would also be an acknowledgment of the role and history of fire fighting in Massachusetts. "With all the plates that have passed, eventually we will get one for firefighters," he said.
