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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7064
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3525
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT CONCERNING MU NICIPAL VETERANS' REPRESENTA TIVES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 27-135 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(b) (1) Any city or town that has not established its own local 4
veterans' advisory committee separate from one or more other cities or 5
towns pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and does not otherwise 6
provide funding for a veterans' service officer shall designate (A) a city 7
or town employee, or (B) a volunteer who is a resident of such city or 8
town, and (i) is a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103, 9
or (ii) has practical experience handling veterans' issues, to serve as a 10
[veterans' service contact person] municipal veterans' representative in 11
such city or town. The Commissioner of Veterans Affairs shall 12
annually send to the chief executive officer of any such city or town an 13
electronic notification of such chief executive officer's duty to so 14
designate a city or town employee or volunteer in accordance with this 15
subsection. Such chief executive officer shall, not later than thirty days 16 Raised Bill No. 7064
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after receipt of such notification, submit to the Office of Advocacy and 17
Assistance, as described in subsection (b) of section 27-102l, as 18
amended by this act, the name and electronic mail address of the city 19
or town employee or volunteer so designated. As used in this 20
subdivision, "chief executive officer" means the officer described in 21
section 7-193. 22
(2) [Any city or town employee designated as a veterans' service 23
contact person] Each municipal veterans' representative shall carry out 24
the duties described in subsection (a) of this section and shall complete 25
a training course conducted by the Office of Advocacy and Assistance, 26
as described in subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 27-102l, as 27
amended by this act, or attend a training session conducted by the 28
manager of said office, as described in subparagraph (A) of 29
subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of said section. [Each employee so 30
designated prior to July 1, 2016, shall complete such training course 31
prior to January 1, 2017. Each employee so] Each municipal veterans' 32
representative designated on or after [July 1, 2016] October 1, 2019, 33
shall complete such training course not later than one year after the 34
date of such designation. Upon completion of such training course, a 35
[veterans' service contact person] municipal veterans' representative 36
may thereafter receive electronically any new or updated training 37
information from the Office of Advocacy and Assistance and shall not 38
be required to complete any other such training course. 39
Sec. 2. Subdivisions (1) to (3), inclusive, of subsection (b) of section 40
27-102l of the general statutes are repealed and the following is 41
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 42
(b) (1) The commissioner may appoint a manager to administer an 43
Office of Advocacy and Assistance for the aid and benefit of veterans 44
and their spouses, eligible dependents and family members. The office 45
shall have a staff of not less than eight men and women, including six 46
veterans' service officers, and clerical personnel. The manager and 47
veterans' service officers shall be veterans, as defined in subsection (a) 48
of section 27-103, or veterans who were awarded the armed forces 49 Raised Bill No. 7064
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expeditionary medal for service by the armed forces. 50
(2) (A) The manager shall develop a training module on assisting 51
and serving women veterans with regard to state or federal services or 52
benefits and identifying and advising such veterans of community or 53
nonprofit programs focused on assisting and serving such veterans. 54
The manager shall hold and provide instruction for an annual training 55
session, in accordance with such module, to each veterans' [services] 56
service officer and any [veterans' service contact person] municipal 57
veterans' representative, as described in subsection (b) of section 27-58
135, as amended by this act, or representative from an Operation 59
Academic Support for Incoming Service Members center at a public 60
institution of higher education in this state. 61
(B) At least one of the veterans' service officers shall be a woman 62
having a demonstrated interest in the concerns of women veterans, 63
who shall be responsible for addressing those concerns, and, effective 64
upon the next opening of a veterans' service officer position occurring 65
on or after July 1, 2010, at least two of the veterans' service officers 66
shall be individuals having bilingual proficiency in English and 67
Spanish, within existing authorized positions. Each veterans' service 68
officer shall (i) successfully complete a course in veterans' benefits not 69
later than one year after commencement of employment, (ii) attend the 70
training session described in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, and 71
(iii) be assigned to one of the five congressional districts of the state. 72
(3) The office staff shall, at least twice annually, conduct a training 73
course for any [city or town employee designated a veterans' service 74
contact person pursuant to subsection (b) of section 27-135] municipal 75
veterans' representative. The office staff shall include in such training 76
course a summary of state and federal services and benefits, the duties 77
to be carried out by each [veterans' service contact person] municipal 78
veterans' representative, as described in subsection (a) of section 27-79
135, and any assistance the office staff may provide to any [veterans' 80
service contact person] municipal veterans' representative related to 81
such duties. 82 Raised Bill No. 7064
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 27-135(b)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 27-102l(b)(1) to (3)
Statement of Purpose:
To change "veterans' service contact person" to "municipal veterans'
representative" and to permit volunteers to serve as such
representatives.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]