Senate Bill No. 20
(By Senators Kimble, Deem, Helmick, Bailey, Dittmar, Love,
Oliverio, Wiedebusch, Wooton, Buckalew, Boley, Dugan and Minear)
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[Introduced January 13, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Military; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A A BILL to amend and reenact section two, chapter ten, acts of the
Legislature, first extraordinary session, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, relating to removing the ninety-day
service requirement for those entitled to the veteran's
bonus.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, chapter ten, acts of the Legislature,
first extraordinary session, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
PAYMENT OF VETERANS BONUS.
§2. Veterans entitled to bonus.
In grateful recognition of their services in time of grave
national emergency, a cash bonus as herein provided shall be paid
to veterans of the Persian Gulf, Panama, Grenada and Lebanon
conflicts. Such bonus shall be paid to: (1) All persons who
served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States or
who were members of reserve components called to active duty in
the armed forces of the United States by the President of the
United States under Title 10, United States Code section 782(D),
783 or 783(B), during the Persian Gulf conflict, Operation Desert
Shield/Desert Storm, between the first day of August, one
thousand nine hundred ninety and the eleventh day of April, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-one, both dates inclusive; and (2)
all veterans, active service members, or members of reserve
components, of the armed forces of the United States, who served
on active duty in one of the military operations referred to
herein for which he or she received a campaign badge or
expeditionary medal during the periods hereinafter described.
For purposes of this bill, periods of active duty in a campaign
or expedition are designated as: The conflict in Panama, between
the twentieth day of December, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-nine, through the thirty-first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety, both dates inclusive; the conflict
in Grenada, between the twenty-third day of October, one thousand
nine hundred eighty-three, and the twenty-first day of November,
one thousand nine hundred eighty-three, both dates inclusive; and
the conflict in Lebanon, between the twenty-fifth day of August,
one thousand nine hundred eighty-two, and the twenty-sixth day of
February, one thousand nine hundred eighty-four, both dates
inclusive: Provided, That said bonus shall only be paid to the
veterans as described herein who were bona fide residents of the
state of West Virginia at the time of their entry into such
service and for a period of at least six months immediately prior
thereto, who have not been separated from such armed forces under
conditions other than honorable and who within the periods
specified above, actively served in such armed forces. for a
period of at least ninety days
Such cash bonus shall also be paid to any disabled veteran
otherwise qualified, who was discharged within ninety days after
entering the armed forces because of a service-connected
disability.
As used in this bill, "armed forces" means the army, navy,
air force, marine corps and coast guard of the United States.
As used in this bill, "active duty" means full-time active
service in the armed forces with full duty pay status, but shall
not include time absent from leave, absent over leave, while in
confinement or any other time classified by the respective
branches of the armed forces as "bad" or "lost" time.
For purposes of this bill, "active service" shall mean the
person's active duty as a member of one of the armed forces
during the periods of conflict referred to herein.
As used in this bill, the bill "bona fide resident" shall
mean any person who, at the time of his or her entry into active
service as such is defined herein, was a legal resident of the
state of West Virginia. Evidence of legal residence shall be
shown by the presentation of evidence that the person filed a
West Virginia personal income tax for the tax year immediately
preceding his or her entry into active service or proof that he
or she maintained a permanent place of abode in West Virginia at
the time of his or her entry into active service and for a period
of at least six months prior to entry into active service.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit those Persian
Gulf reservists who were activated by Presidential Proclamation
entitlement to the Veterans Bonus for any period of service.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.