General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7101
January Session, 2017 *_____HB07101VA____030617____*
General Assembly
Substitute Bill No. 7101
January Session, 2017
*_____HB07101VA____030617____*
AN ACT CONCERNING ELIGIBILITY FOR BURIAL IN THE STATE VETERANS' CEMETERY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 27-122b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2018):
(a) As used in this section, "veteran" means any person (1) honorably discharged from, or released under honorable conditions from, active service in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard or any women's auxiliary branch thereof, organized pursuant to an Act of Congress; (2) who has completed at least twenty years of qualifying service, as described in and computed under 10 USC Chapter 1223, as amended from time to time, in the Connecticut National Guard; or (3) who was killed in action, or who died as a result of accident or illness sustained while performing active service, in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard or any women's auxiliary branch thereof, organized pursuant to an Act of Congress, or in the Connecticut National Guard.
(b) (1) Any veteran may, by letter or other communication addressed to the commissioner, or by will, request that upon his or her death his or her body be buried in a veterans' cemetery established pursuant to section 27-122a, or (2) the spouse or other next of kin may apply to the commissioner to have the body of such veteran buried in said veterans' cemetery, and in either case such request shall be granted.
(c) (1) Any member or former member of the armed forces, as defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103, who is a resident of this state and is entitled to retirement pay under 10 USC Chapter 1223, as amended from time to time, or would have been entitled to retirement pay under said chapter, but for the fact that the person is under sixty years of age, may by letter or other communication addressed to the commissioner, or by will, request that his or her body will be buried in said veterans' cemetery, or (2) the spouse or other next of kin may apply to the commissioner to have the body of such [veteran] member or former member buried in said veterans' cemetery, and, in either case, such request shall be granted.
(d) The spouse of any veteran shall, upon similar request or application made to the commissioner, be buried in said veterans' cemetery provided only one such request or application shall be granted.
(e) The commissioner shall designate an area in said veterans' cemetery for veterans who, for religious reasons, require burial in a consecrated area.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2018 27-122b
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
January 1, 2018
27-122b
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(c)(2), "veteran" was changed to "[veteran] member or former member" for accuracy.
VA Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
VA
Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO