SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 90 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the eighteenth paragraph, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, the following paragraph:-

The registrar shall furnish without charge to owners of private passenger motor vehicles who are veterans as defined in said clause Forty-third of said section seven of said chapter four who have been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge (Second Award), or Combat Action Badge and upon evidence deemed satisfactory by the registrar, distinctive registration plates bearing the words, "COMBAT VETERAN” and bearing a distinctive emblem that identifies the branch of the armed services in which such owner served, and the receipt of the Combat Infantryman Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge (Second Award), or Combat Action Badge for one private passenger motor vehicle or motorcycle owned and principally used by such recipient; provided, however, that the surviving spouse of a deceased recipient may elect to retain such distinctive registration plates or emblem for personal use upon payment of the established registration fee for private passenger motor vehicles or motorcycles and an additional annual twenty dollar fee until such time as such spouse remarries or fails to renew or cancels such registration.