House Republican Press Release

 

 

 

August 13, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

 

A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE

State Representative Ruth Fahrbach

 

Legislation passed will benefit veterans

 

During this year’s legislative session, there were a number of pieces of legislation passed by the legislature that will be helpful to veterans and those serving in the United States Armed Forces. This column is a summary of some of the key veterans’ bills that were acted on by the General Assembly.

One of the higher profile bills to come out of the recent legislative session is a new law that will ensure family members of a peaceful opportunity to lay their loved ones to rest without disruptions at a the funeral. The law prohibits certain activities from taking place from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral or memorial service. Anyone protesting or “disturbing the funeral’s peace or good order” within 150 feet of the location of the funeral or memorial service can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. This law, Public Act 07-98, has already taken effect.

Public Act 07-112 extends paid leave and benefits for state employees who may be called into service in “Operation Jump Start” at the United States and Mexico border. This law also prohibits employers from denying benefits to state employees who may be called into service.        

The new law prohibits employers from denying benefits to state employees called to active service in the above conflicts solely because a collective bargaining agreement classifies their leave as recess or other equivalent leave rather than vacation. These include bargaining agreements covering state employees in teaching, instructional, or professional positions in Unified School Districts 1, 2, or 3.

Civil penalties for discriminating against armed forces members in uniform were increased via Public Act 07-128. The law also increases the criminal fine for wearing a military uniform without authorization, and makes it a crime for a person to falsely represent themselves as a Congressional or armed forces service medal or badge recipient.  

A new law (Public Act 07-167) requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a special “Gold Star Family” license plate to certain family members of any Connecticut service member killed in the line of duty. The DMV may charge additional fees to cover the cost of manufacturing the special license plate.

Public Act 07-187 increases the service bonus payments to current or former Connecticut National Guard members who serve or served in combat zones on or after Sept. 11, 2001 from $500 to $1,200. The law also establishes a maximum $500 bonus for current or former Guard members who served in non-combat areas during the same time period.  

Also, the state may now pay a maximum of $1,800 (up from $150) for funeral expenses for those who have served in the Armed Forces. Public Act 07-2 also allows the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to create and maintain a veterans’ health registry to study short and long-term effects of environmental hazards encountered during service and to coordinate the necessary health care services to veterans. 

The new law applies to members of the U. S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force and reserves. The law allows the department to develop surveys for members or their health care providers to provide registry data voluntarily during or after their period of active service. The surveys and data must be related to members' illnesses and potential correlations between those illnesses and environmental hazards.

The department must collect and maintain the surveys and data in accordance with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), with the exception of individually identifiable health data, which may be released only with the member's consent in accordance with HIPPA.

 

If you would like a copy of any of these laws affecting veterans, you may call my office at 240-8700 or log on to our web site at www.cga.ct.gov.

 

Rep Ruth Fahrbach represents the 61st District, including Suffield, and parts of Windsor and East Granby, in the General Assembly.