Senate Bill No. 903
Public Act No. 15-246
AN ACT CONCERNING VETERANS' AFFAIRS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 27-125 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
Any veteran who is a citizen of this state and who, through disability or other causes incident to service in the armed forces in time of war, is in need of temporary financial assistance may be provided for by the commissioner by a method similar to that provided in section 27-82, the amount and continuance of such assistance to be discretionary with the commissioner. The widow, widower and each child, parent, brother or sister of any member of the armed forces, who died while in such active service, may be assisted by the commissioner if such person or persons are without sufficient means of support by reason of the death of such member of the armed forces. In carrying out his or her duties under the provisions of this section, the commissioner is directed to cooperate with such federal agencies as may aid in securing prompt and suitable treatment, care and relief of any such member of the armed forces or his or her dependents. The records of the agencies of the state shall be placed at the disposal of the commissioner and such agencies are directed to cooperate with and to assist the commissioner in carrying out his or her duties.
Sec. 2. Section 27-136 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
No person who acts under a power of attorney of a principal in the armed forces of the United States, or of a principal whose duties in connection with any service in which the armed forces, as defined by section 27-103, are engaged involve his or her absence from this country, shall be liable for any such act on the ground that such principal was not alive when such act was performed if such act was performed in good faith and without knowledge of the death of the principal. All such acts shall have the same force and effect upon title and in all other respects as though the principal were alive.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2016) (a) The Judicial Branch shall collect data on the number of members of the armed forces, veterans and nonveterans who, on and after the effective date of this section, apply for and are granted admission or are denied entry into (1) the pretrial program for accelerated rehabilitation established pursuant to section 54-56e of the general statutes, (2) the supervised diversionary program established pursuant to section 54-56l of the general statutes, or (3) the pretrial drug education and community service program established pursuant to section 54-56i of the general statutes. Data compiled pursuant to this section shall be based on information provided by applicants at the time of application to any such program. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means any person who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable from active service in the armed forces and "armed forces" has the same meaning as provided in section 27-103 of the general statutes.
(b) Not later than January 15, 2017, and annually thereafter, the Judicial Branch shall submit a report detailing the data compiled for the previous calendar year pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to veterans' and military affairs and the judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes.