SENATE MILITARY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, Nos. 2565 and 3573

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 15, 2021

      The Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee reports favorably Senate Committee Substitute For Bill Nos. 2565 and 3573.

      This substitute would increase the annual payments by the State to veterans with certain wartime service-connected disabilities from $750 to $1,800.

      The amount is paid to a veteran who has sustained a total loss of sight, or 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 hands or feet 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 service.        The amounts have not been changed since 1981.  There are approximately 185 persons receiving the benefit.