AJR 44, as amended, 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 veteransbegin delete discriminated againstend deletebegin insert dischargedend insert solely on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, In 1993, Congress adopted a policy known as Don’t
2Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), prohibiting service personnel from
3inquiring, or volunteering information, about their sexual
4orientation. Prior to 1993, federal law and military regulations
5prohibited homosexuality in the Armed Forces of the United States;
6and
7WHEREAS, From 1980 until the repeal of DADT in 2011, over
832,000 service personnel were separated from the Armed Forces
9of the United States under DADT and its predecessor policies; and
10WHEREAS, More than 13,000 service personnel were separated
11from the Armed Forces of the United States after the adoption of
P2 1DADT. Approximately one-quarter of these discharges occurred
2during the service member’s first four months of service; and
3WHEREAS, California law prohibits discrimination on the basis
4of race, national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age,
5sex, sexual orientation, color, genetic information, or disability;
6and
7WHEREAS, Generally, veterans separated from the military
8with a discharge that is characterized as “dishonorable” or “other
9than honorable” are ineligible to receive federal or state veterans’
10benefits, including applicable spousal benefits; and
11WHEREAS, Section 711.1 of the Military and Veterans Code
12assists veterans by requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs
13to provide Internet resources, Internet links, and printed materials
14regarding, or created by, veterans’ legal services organizations
15that specialize in military discharge upgrades, or links to Internet
16resources that provide information and printed resources provided
17by veterans’ legal services organizations. It also provides that if
18the federal government acts to provide benefits to discharged
19veterans who were denied those benefits solely on the basis of
20sexual orientation pursuant to any federal policy prohibiting
21homosexual personnel from serving in the Armed Forces of the
22United States, the state shall provide to those veterans any
23state-offered benefits;
and
24WHEREAS, We must work to ensure that California veterans
25who werebegin delete discriminated againstend deletebegin insert dischargedend insert solely on the basis of
26their sexual orientation can access benefits regardless of the
27classification of their discharge; now, therefore, be it
28Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
29California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the Department of
30Defense, Congress, and the President to create a more efficient
31process of upgrading the status of those who were “dishonorably”
32or other than honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the
33United States, and to provide benefits, including applicable spousal
34benefits, to those veteransbegin delete discriminated againstend deletebegin insert dischargedend insert solely
35on the basis of their sexual orientation; and be it further
36Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
37of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
38States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
39Majority Leader of the Senate,begin delete andend delete to each Senator and
P3 1Representative from California in the Congress of the Unitedbegin delete Statesend delete
2begin insert States,end insert andbegin insert toend insert the Department of Defense.
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