Bill Text: CA AJR44 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Veterans' benefits.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 50-5)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 164, Statutes of 2014. [AJR44 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AJR44-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: AJR 44	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  164
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 20, 2014
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 19, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 19, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 12, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bloom
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos,
Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hall, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel
Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, and Yamada)

                        APRIL 10, 2014

   Relative to veterans.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 44, Bloom. Veterans' benefits.
   This measure would urge the Department of Defense, Congress, and
the President to create a more efficient process of upgrading the
status of those who were "dishonorably" or other than honorably
discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States, and to provide
benefits, including applicable spousal benefits, to those veterans
discharged solely on the basis of their sexual orientation.



   WHEREAS, In 1993, Congress adopted a policy known as Don't Ask,
Don't Tell (DADT), prohibiting service personnel from inquiring, or
volunteering information, about their sexual orientation. Prior to
1993, federal law and military regulations prohibited homosexuality
in the Armed Forces of the United States; and
   WHEREAS, From 1980 until the repeal of DADT in 2011, over 32,000
service personnel were separated from the Armed Forces of the United
States under DADT and its predecessor policies; and
   WHEREAS, More than 13,000 service personnel were separated from
the Armed Forces of the United States after the adoption of DADT.
Approximately one-quarter of these discharges occurred during the
service member's first four months of service; and
   WHEREAS, California law prohibits discrimination on the basis of
race, national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age,
sex, sexual orientation, color, genetic information, or disability;
and
   WHEREAS, Generally, veterans separated from the military with a
discharge that is characterized as "dishonorable" or "other than
honorable" are ineligible to receive federal or state veterans'
benefits, including applicable spousal benefits; and
   WHEREAS, Section 711.1 of the Military and Veterans Code assists
veterans by requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide
Internet resources, Internet links, and printed materials regarding,
or created by, veterans' legal services organizations that specialize
in military discharge upgrades, or links to Internet resources that
provide information and printed resources provided by veterans' legal
services organizations. It also provides that if the federal
government acts to provide benefits to discharged veterans who were
denied those benefits solely on the basis of sexual orientation
pursuant to any federal policy prohibiting homosexual personnel from
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, the state shall
provide to those veterans any state-offered benefits; and
   WHEREAS, We must work to ensure that California veterans who were
discharged solely on the basis of their sexual orientation can access
benefits regardless of the classification of their discharge; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the Department of
Defense, Congress, and the President to create a more efficient
process of upgrading the status of those who were "dishonorably" or
other than honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United
States, and to provide benefits, including applicable spousal
benefits, to those veterans discharged solely on the basis of their
sexual orientation; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
Department of Defense.