LCO No. 1672 1 of 3 General Assembly Raised Bill No. 218 February Session, 2020 LCO No. 1672 Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS Introduced by: (VA) AN ACT CONCERNING EL IGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN VETERANS' BENEFITS. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 14-20b of the general statutes is 1 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2 2020): 3 (a) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, at the request of any veteran 4 or member of the armed forces or the surviving spouse of such veteran 5 or member, shall register any motor vehicle owned or leased for a period 6 of at least one year by such person and shall issue a special certificate of 7 registration and a set of number plates for each such motor vehicle, 8 including a special certificate of registration and a set of number plates 9 for any motor vehicle used exclusively for farming purposes by any 10 veteran or member of the armed forces, or the surviving spouse of such 11 veteran or member, who is engaged in agricultural production as a trade 12 or business. The plates shall expire and be renewed as provided in 13 section 14-22. The commissioner shall charge a fee for such plates, which 14 fee shall cover the entire cost of making such plates and shall be in 15 Raised Bill No. 218 LCO No. 1672 2 of 3 addition to the fee for registration of such motor vehicle. As used in this 16 subsection, "member of the armed forces" has the same meaning as 17 provided in section 27-103 and "veteran" means any person (1) 18 honorably discharged from, or released under honorable conditions 19 from active service in, the armed forces, or (2) with a qualifying 20 condition, as defined in section 27-103, who has received a discharge 21 other than bad conduct or dishonorable from active service in the armed 22 forces. For purposes of this subsection, active service includes initial 23 active duty for training purposes. 24 Sec. 2. Subsection (f) of section 14-36h of the general statutes is 25 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 26 2020): 27 (f) As used in this section: (1) "Full legal name" means the most 28 complete version of the name that appears on a person's certificate of 29 birth, official passport or other document or documents accepted by the 30 Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to verify the person's identity, unless 31 the person presents a marriage license or certificate, a certificate of civil 32 union, a divorce decree or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction 33 pertaining to a permanent change of the person's name; and (2) 34 "veteran" means (A) any person honorably discharged from, or released 35 under honorable conditions from active service in, the armed forces, as 36 defined in section 27-103, (B) any former member of the armed forces 37 who is entitled to retirement pay under 10 USC Chapter 1223, as 38 amended from time to time, or, but for age, would be so entitled, or (C) 39 any person with a qualifying condition, as defined in section 27-103, 40 who has received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable 41 from active service in the armed forces. For purposes of this subsection, 42 active service includes initial active duty for training purposes. 43 Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 10a-149d of the general statutes is 44 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 45 2020): 46 (a) An institution of higher education shall award college credit for 47 Raised Bill No. 218 LCO No. 1672 3 of 3 military occupational specialty training to a member of the armed forces 48 or the National Guard or a veteran who enrolls at such institution and 49 has experience in a military occupation recognized by such institution 50 as substituting for or meeting the requirements of a particular course of 51 study. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means any person (1) 52 [who was] honorably discharged from, or released under conditions 53 other than dishonorable from active service in the armed forces, [and 54 "armed forces"] or (2) with a qualifying condition, as defined in section 55 27-103, who has received a discharge other than bad conduct or 56 dishonorable from active service in the armed forces. "Armed forces" 57 has the same meaning as provided in section 27-103. "Active service" 58 includes initial active duty for training purposes. 59 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 July 1, 2020 14-20b(a) Sec. 2 July 1, 2020 14-36h(f) Sec. 3 July 1, 2020 10a-149d(a) Statement of Purpose: To include initial active duty for training purposes to be counted as qualifying service for veterans' benefits eligibility for operators' licenses, veteran designation on license plates and college credit for military training. [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.]