SENATE MILITARY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2784

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 7, 2019

      The Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2784.

      This bill permits county clerks or registers of deeds and mortgages, as appropriate, to issue an identification card to Gold Star Families. 

      Under current law, county clerks or registers of deeds and mortgages, as appropriate, may issue an identification card to a Gold Star Parent. The bill expands eligibility for an identification card to include a Gold Star Family Member, which under the bill is, whether of the whole or half blood or by adoption, as applicable, a spouse, domestic partner, partner in a civil union, parent, legal guardian or other legal custodian, or child of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or National Guard, who died while on active duty for the United States.

      The cards are designed to help the families of members of the armed forces who lost their lives while on active duty for the United States receive discounts or other courtesies extended to military families. 

      Proof of status may include any or all of the following: 

      (1)  a certification from an organization formed for the support of parents or other family members of members of the armed forces who lost their lives while on active duty for the United States, that the applicant is, whether of the whole or half blood or by adoption, as applicable, a spouse, domestic partner, partner in a civil union, parent, legal guardian or other legal custodian, or child of a member of the armed forces who died while on active duty for the United States;

      (2)  the service member’s federal DD Form 1300, Report of Casualty, which identifies the member of the armed forces who died while on active duty for the United States; and

      (3)  documentation indicating the applicant’s relationship to the service member.

      The DD Form 1300 and the application will be kept confidential and will not be considered a government record under the open public records act.