Bill passed by Governor creats several new license plates to honor veterans and memorialize Fallen Servicemen.

The bill also creates "Gold Star" family license plates. Close relatives of military servie members killed in action in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the current Iraq and Afghanistan missions would be eligible to apply. State Rep. Dan Short-- one of a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers to sponsor the bill, said he was especially gratified to have the Gold Star plates included as part of the omnibus measure.

"This is a very emotional thing for these families" Rep. Short said. "These folks have had somthing traumatic in their lives that have changed their lives forever. These tags are just a small token of our appreciation for their sacrifice."

The US Submarine Veterans, Inc. would benefit from an exception carved out by the bill. Under the current law, the Division of Motor Vehicles will only approve a special license plate after it has received at least 200 applications. SB 201 seeks to add the sumariners to the list of non profit orgoanizations able to get specialty tagas after only 35 aplications have been received.

The legislation also expands the scope of existing specialty tags, for disabled verterans, former prisoners of war, and veterans formerly missing in action, to include battles fought on foreign soil since the end of the Vietnam War.

After previous failed attempts, the bill finally grants the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Delaware with its own license plate. The group is part of a national organization geared toward community service, including educating the public about the history of the Buffalo Soldiers: a group of African-American cavalry soldiers who served with distinction during the Indian Wars.

The DMV currently has 90 diffrent specialty plates available to motorists and the Minner admistration had been reluctant to create more. That has not stopped lawmakers from trying. In the previous 143rd General Assembly, seven bills were introduced to create new tags and all seven failed to clear the legislature.

SB 201 includes several of the failed proposals from the 143rd G.A. The bill passed unanimously in both chambers and was recently signed by Governor MInner.