BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
BILL NO: ACR 153 HEARING DATE: 6/24/14
AUTHOR: Dickinson
VERSION: 6/9/14
FISCAL: No
SUBJECT
California LGBT Veterans Day.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law:
This bill:
Proclaims June 11, 2014, and June 11 of each subsequent year,
California LGBT Veterans Day, to be celebrated statewide.
Makes specific legislative findings:
1.The 11th day of June has been declared California LGBT
Veterans Day in recognition of the importance of properly
thanking the many people of California who have served their
country while concealing their sexual orientation due to
military policies that prohibited service by openly lesbian,
gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT) individuals.
2.During the Armed Forces "Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT)" policy,
many service members in honorable standing were forced out of
their military service and their benefits removed when their
LGBT status became known, leaving the State of California
unable to properly recognize many of its daughters and sons
who served their country.
3.Multiple forms of this manner of discrimination have finally
been eradicated from the ranks of our United States Armed
Forces and all forms of discrimination have been removed from
the ranks of the California Military Department, the
California National Guard, and the State Military Reserve.
BACKGROUND
Between World War II and the September 2011 repeal of DADT,
approximately 114,000 American military service members were
discharged due to actual or alleged violations of official
military restrictions on sexual orientation. Many of these
individuals, depending upon their particular discharge
classifications and the states in which they lived, were treated
as felons and precluded from voting, collecting unemployment
benefits, and qualifying for federal veterans' benefits, such as
VA health care and disability compensation.
In late 2011 President Obama lifted the longstanding ban on
openly gay men, lesbians and bisexuals serving in the U.S.
military. Individuals who join the military after that policy
change may serve openly without discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
However, this change was made prospective only for the currently
serving military; it did not address the veteran status of
individuals discharged prior to the end of DADT. If these
persons were ineligible for veterans benefits prior to the 2011
change in military policy, they were still ineligible.
California offers a number of state-level benefits to military
veterans, but eligibility for these state benefits is premised
on the individual having achieved the veteran status awarded by
the federal government. In 2012, Assemblyman Richard Pan
successfully authored AB 1505, which provided that -- if the
federal government acts to reinstate federal veterans benefits
to those previously discharged LGBT service members - then the
State of California also shall reinstate any state-offered
benefits to them.
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In the 113th Congress (2013-14), federal legislation - The
Restore Honor to Service Members Act, S. 1956 and H.R. 2839 -
was introduced into both houses that would ensure that the
service records of gay, lesbian and bisexual troops discharged
due to sexual orientation would receive a "timely, consistent
and transparent" review, and those confirmed to have served
honorably would see their records upgraded. A successful upgrade
would open the door to restoration of veterans benefits. Neither
the Senate nor House bill has made significant progress through
the congressional legislative process.
COMMENT
Related Legislation
AB 1505 (Pan, Ch. 397, Stats. 2012) pertains to LGBT
individuals, who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, but received
a discharge under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Harass"
policy, which rendered them ineligible to receive federal
veteran benefits. AB 1505:
1. Provides that -- if the federal government acts to
reinstate federal veterans benefits to those individuals,
then the State of California also shall reinstate any
state-offered benefits to them.
2. Requires CalVet to provide Internet resources,
Internet links, and print materials regarding legal
service organizations that specialize in military
discharge upgrades.
SJR 9 (Kehoe, Res. Ch. 29, Stats. 2010 ) urged the President
and the Congress to adopt then-pending legislation that would
end the federal military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell,
Don't Pursue, Don't Harass." This bill was the third and last
in a series of similar resolutions by Sen. Kehoe, which
included SJR 6 (Res. Ch. 63, 2007) and SJR 11 (Res. Ch. 108,
Stats. 2005).
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author.
Support: American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service
Officer
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Military Officers Association of America, California
Council of Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
Oppose: None on file.
Analysis by: Wade Cooper Teasdale
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