Requires Medicare and Medicaid managed care providers to provide coverage for certain out-of-network health care

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Leroy Comrie

Authorize a no-charge Blue Star Family license plate or emblem for immediate family of Massachusetts police officers killed in the line of duty.

REFERRED TO HEALTH

Summary — S.2449 (Massachusetts): “Blue Star Family” License Plate

Note on source material: the bill text provided is a Massachusetts measure to establish a “Blue Star Family” license plate. Some of the accompanying metadata (sponsors, headings, and legislative-action dates) appears inconsistent or mixed with other records. This summary focuses on the bill text filed as Senate Docket No. 248 / Senate No. 2449 (filed 1/9/2025), presented by Senator Bruce E. Tarr.

Purpose / Intent

To authorize and provide, at no charge, a distinctive “Blue Star Family” motor vehicle registration plate (or emblem for a motorcycle) to surviving immediate family members of Massachusetts police officers who were killed in the line of duty. The measure is intended to honor the service and sacrifice of fallen law enforcement officers and to identify and recognize their families.

Key provisions

Amends Section 2 of Chapter 90 of the Massachusetts General Laws by inserting a new paragraph establishing the “Blue Star Family” registration.

Eligibility:

Available, without charge, to the owner of 1 private passenger motor vehicle who is the parent, child, sibling, or spouse of a police officer (city/town/university police, Department of State Police, or MBTA Police) killed in the line of duty.
For motorcycles, a distinctive “Blue Star Family” emblem may be furnished to be affixed to the registration plate.
The registrar may issue a distinctive registration of up to 6 characters for the one private passenger motor vehicle.
A police officer is deemed “killed in the line of duty” if the circumstances would qualify them for placement on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Requires presentation of “satisfactory evidence” to the registrar to obtain the plate or emblem.

Who is affected

Eligible recipients: immediate family members (parent, child, sibling, spouse) of Massachusetts police officers killed in the line of duty.

Registrar of Motor Vehicles: responsible for verification, issuance, and production of plates/emblems.

Law enforcement agencies: may be asked to provide or confirm documentation of an officer’s line-of-duty death.

Motor vehicle/plate vendors and state administrative resources: minor workload and production responsibilities.

Fiscal/administrative impact

The plate/emblem is furnished without charge, so the Commonwealth forgoes any regular registration fee for that plate; expected to be a small, one-time or limited recurring fiscal effect depending on demand.

Administrative costs: verification processing, plate/emblem production, and issuance — likely modest.

Procedural status / next steps

Filed as Senate Docket No. 248 / Senate No. 2449 on 1/9/2025 and presented by Senator Bruce E. Tarr.

The provided legislative-action timeline is inconsistent; users should verify current status, committee referrals, and any amendments on the official Massachusetts Legislature website or the Senate Clerk’s records to confirm committee assignments and subsequent actions.

If you want, I can check the legislature’s website for the current official status and committee reports or draft a short fiscal-note estimate for this proposal.