Substitute Senate Bill No. 70
Public Act No. 13-48
AN ACT RESTORING BENEFITS TO VETERANS DISCHARGED UNDER "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL".
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) (a) For purposes of this section, "veteran" means any person discharged or released from active service in the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103 of the general statutes, regardless of his or her discharge classification.
(b) If the federal government acts to reinstate eligibility for benefits to discharged veterans, regardless of their discharge classification, who have been or otherwise would be denied such benefits solely on the basis of sexual orientation pursuant to any current or former federal policy prohibiting homosexual personnel from serving in the armed forces, the state shall reinstate eligibility for any state benefits such veterans were or otherwise would have been denied due to such federal policy.
(c) To the extent practicable, the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall (1) provide information on its Internet web site regarding legal services organizations that assist veterans in military discharge upgrades, including, but not limited to, links to such organizations' Internet web sites, and (2) provide printed resources concerning methods for obtaining military discharge upgrades, which are created by such legal services organizations, to veterans at the department's offices and facilities and disseminate such resources to local veterans' advisory committees, as described in section 27-135 of the general statutes.