STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Singleton
SYNOPSIS
Updates definition of veteran to include discharged LGBTQ veteran; requires DMVA develop review process for such veterans.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning benefits for LGBTQ veterans, and amending various parts of the statutory law and supplementing Title 38A of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) As used in this act:
Discharged LGBTQ veteran means a veteran who was discharged less than honorably from the Armed Forces of the United States due to their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, or statements, consensual sexual conduct, or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, or the disclosure of such statements, conduct, or acts that were prohibited by the Armed Forces at the time of discharge.
Gender expression means a person's gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's assigned sex at birth.
Gender identity means a person's internal sense of their own gender, regardless of the sex the person was assigned at birth.
Sexual orientation means male or female heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality by inclination, practice, identity, or expression, having a history thereof or being perceived, presumed, or identified by others as having such an orientation.
2. (New section) The department shall establish a consistent and uniform process to determine whether a veteran qualifies as a discharged LGBTQ veteran, as defined in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), including, at a minimum, standards for verifying a veteran's status as a discharged LGBTQ veteran, and a method of demonstrating eligibility as a discharged LGBTQ veteran. The department shall create an eligibility form to be issued upon verification of status as a discharged LGBTQ veteran.
3. Section 1 of P.L.1983, c.197 (C.10:5-39) is amended to read as follows:
1. As used in this act:
a. "Affirmative action program for veterans" means a plan guaranteeing to veterans an equal employment opportunity, which includes but is not limited to the following areas: recruitment, selection, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, layoff, return from layoff, compensation, and fringe benefits.
b. "Public works contract" means any contract exceeding $250,000.00 in price to be performed for or on behalf of the State
for the construction, alteration, or repair of any building or public work.
c. "Veteran " means any soldier, sailor, marine, airman, nurse or army field clerk, who has served at least 90 days in the active military, naval or air service of the United States and has been discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable, or any discharged LGBTQ veteran, as defined in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), who has served at least 90 days of active service, and who has presented to the Civil Service Commission of New Jersey full and convincing evidence of such record of service on or before the date of making application for a position governed by this act. The 90-day requirement for active service is exclusive of any time such veteran was assigned: (1) for a course of education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program or the Navy College Training Program, which course was a continuation of his civilian course and was pursued to completion; or (2) as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies; and exclusive of any service performed pursuant to the provisions of section 511(d) of Title 10, United States Code, pursuant to an enlistment in the Army or Air Force National Guard or as a reserve for service in the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve; provided, that any person receiving an actual, service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed as a veteran, whether or not he has completed the 90 days' service as herein provided.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.184, s.5)
4. N.J.S.11A:5-1 is amended to read as follows:
11A:5-1. As used in this chapter:
a. "Disabled veteran" means any veteran who is eligible to be compensated for a service-connected disability from war service by the United States Veterans Administration or who receives or is entitled to receive equivalent compensation for a service-connected disability which arises out of military or naval service as set forth in this chapter and who has submitted sufficient evidence of the record of disability incurred in the line of duty to the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs and received a determination of status no later than eight days prior to the issuance of an employment list, for which that individual received a passing score on an examination;
b. "Veteran" means any honorably discharged soldier, sailor, marine or nurse who served in any army or navy of the allies of the United States in World War I, between July 14, 1914 and November 11, 1918, or who served in any army or navy of the allies of the United States in World War II, between September 1, 1939 and September 2, 1945 and who was inducted into that service through voluntary enlistment, and was a citizen of the United States at the time of the enlistment, and who did not renounce or lose his or her United States citizenship; or any soldier, sailor, marine, airman, nurse or army field clerk, who has served in the active military or naval service of the United States and has been discharged or released under other than dishonorable conditions from that service, or any discharged LGBTQ veteran, as defined in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, in any of the following wars or conflicts and who has presented to the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs sufficient evidence of the record of service and received a determination of status no later than eight days prior to the issuance of an employment list, for which that individual received a passing score on an examination:
(1) World War I, between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1918;
(2) World War II, on or after September 16, 1940, who shall have served at least 90 days beginning on or before December 31, 1946 in such active service, exclusive of any period of assignment for a course of education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program or the Navy College Training Program, which course was a continuation of a civilian course and was pursued to completion, or as a cadet or midshipman at one of the service academies; except that any person receiving an actual service-incurred injury or disability shall be classed a veteran whether or not that person has completed the 90-day service;
(3) Korean conflict, on or after June 23, 1950, who shall have served at least 90 days beginning on or before January 31, 1955, in active service, exclusive of any period of assignment for a course of education or training under the Army Specialized Training Program or the Navy Col