Wounded JBLM vet wants his Purple Heart plates, free car tabs. They shouldn’t be this hard to get
Honoring the sacrifices of America’s warfighters is a value shared by Democrats and Republicans, a rare plot of common ground in a country fractured by partisan fault lines. That’s certainly true in Washington, home to more than a half million veterans, and Pierce County, host to the West Coast’s largest joint military base.
Wounded combat vets deserve special respect. Under a new state law, they’re supposed to get it. Not only are they entitled to one set of commemorative Purple Heart license plates, which the state has issued without charge for several years; as of July, they also don’t have to pay any taxes or fees to renew tabs on that vehicle.
More than recognition on a car bumper, this puts needed cash in the hands of Washington war veterans, like Jon Tuttell. Or at least it should.
The Tacoma resident has three Purple Hearts. He also has an eye-popping car-tab bill for his BMW sedan. “When I heard rumors of huge savings for Purple Heart awardees, I was thrilled,” Tuttell told us last week. “My tab renewal this year is around $500, so any savings on that monstrosity got me excited.”
The new benefit was adopted by the Legislature with 142 total votes in favor, zero against. No surprise there.
Months after the bill-signing fanfare, however, the program is off to a bumpy start. State officials should be embarrassed, especially after another glitch caused an incorrect billing for Purple Heart plates last year.
The state needs to fix this problem quickly or risk losing veterans’ trust.
Just ask Tuttell. “This is something that shouldn’t be so hard,” he said.
The disabled Special Forces soldier, stationed at JBLM before his medical retirement in 2018, spent a 15-year Army career riding a carousel of combat tours. A medical sergeant, he was often at the tip of the spear during deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines.
When Tuttell went to the Department of Licensing website, he found the page to apply for the Purple Heart plates, but it said payment was required. His odyssey continued at a local DOL office, where he encountered employees unfamiliar with the extra benefits of the new law. Frustrated about getting the runaround, he reached out to the TNT.
“Everyone’s certain we have all these Purple Heart benefits, but when you look at it, it’s not really true,” Tuttell said. “We Americans clap ourselves on the back for all the things we want to do for vets, but it’s just not true.”
Christine Anthony, a DOL spokeswoman, looked into it and told us no payment is necessary for one set of plates and that the website language will be clarified. “We want to make sure vets who have received Purple Hearts can get Purple Heart plates,” she said.
That’s good to hear, though more than a website fix is needed. Front-line DOL staff should be trained on the revised law. The state also should work with veterans groups to promote the free plates and fee exemptions for all the men and women who’ve earned it (including surviving spouses of Purple Heart recipients).
There are 2,480 Purple Heart plates currently registered with the state, according to DOL, including 152 since July. But not everyone who’s eligible has Tuttell’s tenacity. Wounded vets, he said, are “a vulnerable population,” and many are deterred “by even a small roadblock.”
It also reflects poorly on state licensing officials that this is the second snafu in as many years. In 2018, they apologized after a mysterious $30 charge incorrectly appeared on the registration renewals of some Purple Heart veterans.
If there’s a lesson for elected leaders in all this, it’s that the duty to honor wounded warriors doesn’t end after the governor signs a bill. The fanfare is fleeting when bureaucratic follow-through doesn’t match political good intentions.