New Jersey motorists may soon have a new way to show pride in the role the state played in the American Revolution.
State lawmakers are advancing bipartisan legislation that would create a “250th Anniversary Revolutionary War” license plate.
The push to create the special license plate comes as New Jersey this year is celebrating the U.S. Semiquincentennial.
To obtain the plate, motorists would be charged an initial $50 fee, according to the bill, followed by a $10 annual renewal fee.
The revenue from those fees would be used to help preserve sites linked to the American Revolution throughout the state, once the cost of issuing the plates themselves is covered, the bill says.
Historians have credited New Jersey for playing an important role in the nation’s bid for independence, with some of the war’s most critical battles taking place within the state’s borders, along with Continental Army winter encampments.
Yet New Jersey isn’t often considered a top destination for American Revolution history buffs in the same way as other locations, such as Boston and Philadelphia.
The proposal to create special license plates in New Jersey would give motorists a way to promote the state’s revolutionary heritage, according to sponsors of the legislation, and to directly support and preserve it.
“Our state was the site of the ferocious battles that changed the tide of the war,” said Assemblyman William Moen (D-Camden), a sponsor of the bill.
“This (plate) would help fund and support the sites up and down the state,” Moen said when the bill came up for review during a recent meeting of the Assembly’s Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee.
New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission already offers more than a dozen special plates, including those that support cancer research, preservation of the state’s Pine Barrens region and Jersey Shore cleanup projects.
Special plates can also be personalized for an additional fee, according to the MVC.
“This license plate will serve as a symbol of pride for New Jersey drivers who travel past the battlegrounds and landmarks that earned us the title, ‘Crossroads of the Revolution,’ while preserving the history of our fight for independence.” — Republican Assemblymen Rob Cllifton and Alex Sauickie
The bill calling for the establishment of the 250th Anniversary Revolutionary War license plate would require the MVC’s chief administrator, in consultation with New Jersey Historical Commission, to select a design for the plate, including “an emblem and color scheme.”
If enacted into law, the legislation would also require the Department of the Treasury to create a special fund to deposit revenue generated from the fees paid by those obtaining the special plates, “less the amounts necessary to reimburse the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission for the administrative costs.”
“Monies deposited in the fund shall be appropriated annually to support and preserve Revolutionary War sites throughout New Jersey,” the bill says. “Interest or other income earned on monies deposited in the fund, and any monies which may be appropriated or otherwise become available for the purposes of the fund, shall be credited to and deposited in the fund.”
After the bill cleared the Assembly committee in a unanimous vote, its two Republican sponsors, Assemblymen Rob Cllifton and Alex Sauickie, said the plates should highlight the “outsized role” the state played in the American Revolution.
“This license plate will serve as a symbol of pride for New Jersey drivers who travel past the battlegrounds and landmarks that earned us the title, ‘Crossroads of the Revolution,’ while preserving the history of our fight for independence,” the two assemblymen said.
This is not the first effort to set aside funding to support American Revolution sites within the state’s borders in preparation for America’s 250th anniversary, which will be celebrated nationally on July 4th.
Several years ago, then-Gov. Phil Murphy allocated $25 million from New Jersey’s share of COVID-19 pandemic relief aid to 10 locations considered important to the nation’s founding, including battlefields in Freehold and Princeton.
Some of that funding was also set aside for Trenton’s Old Barracks, a building located around the corner from the State House that dates to 1758 and was used to house soldiers during the American Revolution.
This story is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
