BILL NUMBER: AJR 19	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 30, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Pan

                        APRIL 30, 2013

   Relative to veterans.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 19, as amended, Pan. Veterans' benefits: reinstatement.
   This measure would urge Congress and the President to reinstate
benefits  , including applicable spousal benefits,  to those
veterans discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States
solely on the basis of their sexual orientation.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   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 benefi   ts
 ; 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 reinstate 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
reinstate 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 Congress and the
President to reinstate benefits  , including applicable spousal
benefits,  to those veterans discharged from the Armed Forces of
the United States 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, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.