An Act providing for an increase to the allowance paid to veterans with certain wartime service-connected disabilities, and amending various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.38:18-2 is amended to read as follows:
Compensation to blind veterans, spouses.
38:18-2. A soldier, who has sustained a total loss of sight as a result of his service during any of the wars mentioned in R.S.38:18-1, shall be paid for the term of his life, and upon his death his surviving spouse shall be paid, provided that the soldier or surviving spouse shall continue as a resident of this State, the sum of $1,800 annually, in monthly payments. Such payments shall be due and payable from the date of discharge or release of the soldier if application therefor shall be made within one year from the date of such discharge or release. If the application shall be made one year from the date of discharge or release of the soldier such payments shall be due and payable from the date of such application. Accrued payments to the date of certification shall be paid in one lump sum.
2. R.S.38:18-3 is amended to read as follows:
Proof of service and disability; certification by adjutant general; payment.
38:18-3. Evidence of the service and disability mentioned in R.S.38:18-1 shall be furnished to the Division of Veterans Services of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which shall examine the same and upon being satisfied that the service was performed and the soldier has been rendered totally blind as a result thereof, shall so certify to the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting who shall, upon receipt thereof, draw a warrant on the State Treasurer in favor of the applicant in a bulk sum for any accrued payments and in the sum of $1,800 annually, which the State Treasurer shall pay out of the money appropriated therefor by the Legislature.
3. Section 2 of P.L.1947, c.263 (C.38:18A-2) is amended to read as follows:
C.38:18A-2 Compensation to certain disabled veterans, spouses.
2. A veteran who served in the active military or naval forces of the United States and who has paraplegia and permanent paralysis of both legs and lower parts of the body, or who has osteochondritis and permanent loss of the use of both legs, or who has hemiplegia and permanent paralysis of one leg and one arm or either side of the body, resulting from injury to the spinal cord, skeletal structure, or brain, or who has had both hands, both feet, or one hand and one foot amputated, or who has lost the use of both feet or both legs, due to multiple sclerosis, sustained through enemy action, or accident, or resulting from disease contracted while in active military or naval service, shall be paid for the term of the veteran's life, and upon the veteran's death the surviving spouse, domestic partner, or partner in civil union shall be paid, the sum of $1,800 annually in monthly payments. Such payments shall be due and payable from the date of discharge or release of the veteran if application therefor shall be made within one year from the date of such discharge or release. If the application shall be made after one year from the date of discharge or release of the veteran, such payment shall be due and payable from the date of such application. Accrued payments to the date of certification shall be paid in one lump sum.
Nothing in P.L.1947, c.263 (C.38:18A-1 et seq.) shall be intended to include paraplegia or hemiplegia resulting from locomotor ataxia or other forms of syphilis of the central nervous system or from chronic alcohol use disorder, or to include other forms of disease resulting from the veteran's own misconduct which may produce signs and symptoms similar to those resulting from paraplegia, osteochondritis, hemiplegia, or multiple sclerosis.
4. Section 3 of P.L.1947, c.263 (C.38:18A-3) is amended to read as follows:
C.38:18A-3 Evidence of service and disability.
3. Evidence of the service and disability mentioned in this act, P.L.1947, c.263 (C.38:18A-1 et seq.), shall be furnished to the Division of Veterans Services of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which shall examine the same and upon being satisfied that the service was performed and the veteran has been rendered permanently paralyzed or has permanently lost the use of both legs, or has suffered amputation, as defined in section 2 of this act, shall so certify to the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury, who shall, upon receipt thereof, draw a warrant on the State Treasurer in favor of the applicant in the sum of $1,800 annually, which the State Treasurer shall pay out of the money appropriated therefor by the Legislature.
5. This act shall take effect on January 1 next following the date of enactment.
Approved September 15, 2022.