ALABAMA — Military veterans who served during the Cold War would be able to get a specialized license plate for their cars under a bill by a Jacksonville lawmaker which passed both houses of the Alabama Legislature this month.
Rep. Koven L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, said he sponsored the bill at the request of constituents.
“There were some veterans in Ohatchee who wanted to see this pass,” Brown said.
The state issues specialty license plates for veterans of various wars. Typically recipients of those plates have to show that they’ve received the military campaign medal for the war they were in. There is no campaign medal for people who served during the country’s decades-long nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union.
Brown’s bill would allow veterans to get a specialized Cold War car tag for $23 per year. Anyone who served between September 1945 and Dec. 26, 1991, would qualify. The Soviet Union disbanded in December 1991.
That would likely allow most veterans older than their late 40s to get the plate, but it’s unclear whether many are interested. The state typically requires 1,000 people to sign up for a specialty plate before it can be issued, Brown said, but that rule doesn’t apply to military tags.
The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. Brown said he’s confident she’ll sign it.
