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Committee debates amendment to bill 1235 on discharge codes; votes to send bill to Appropriations 6-1
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Summary
The committee debated Amendment No. 9 to bill 1235, which changes statutory references controlling review of disallowable military separation codes. Veterans groups voiced opposition; the committee agreed to forward the bill to Appropriations by a 6-1 vote.
The Veterans Affairs and Military Committee considered Amendment No. 9 to bill 1235, which revises the statutory cross-reference used to identify disallowable military separation codes and authorizes the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) to review certain separation codes for potential disallowance.
Representative Martells, the bill sponsor, explained the amendment changes the statutory citation from a code provision referred to as "10.5" to "IC 10-17-12-7.5(b)(2)," repositioning how the list of disallowable separation codes is referenced in state law. "All it does is kind of switch things around," Martells said, describing the change as intended to provide clarity.
Lisa Wilkin, a United States Air Force veteran and an inductee of the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame, testified in opposition to the amendment as drafted. "The amendment that was brought forth puts into writing what they told us they were going to do in committee last week," Wilkin said. She told the committee the amendment does not address veterans' concerns about expanding eligibility to people who received less-than-honorable discharges for nonviolent offenses, and she warned that some separation-code information is no longer public and may change at the Department of Defense level. "I'm not okay with amendment number 9," she said.
Several senators questioned how the change would affect eligibility. Senator Baldwin described personal experience with reenlistment and said veterans who received an "other than honorable" discharge because of trauma or personal crisis should not necessarily be excluded from benefits. "I just don't feel like we need to penalize those veterans who are struggling," Baldwin said.
Representative Martells and the chair clarified that the amendment does not create automatic eligibility for benefits. Instead, Martells said, IDVA would maintain a list of disallowable separation codes and the commission would review individual cases. "They don't automatically get it. They fall under review of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs," Martells said.
The committee took Amendment No. 9 by consent and then voted on whether to recommit the bill to the Appropriations Committee. During roll call, several senators answered "yes" or "aye," and the committee clerk reported a final tally of 6–1 in favor of recommitting the bill to Appropriations. Senator Ford asked permission to explain his vote and said he wanted further conversations despite supporting moving the bill out of committee that day.
Witnesses and committee members on both sides urged additional review of the language before final passage. Wilkin asked that the Legislature consider a narrower statutory definition of "veteran" or other language changes so that existing statutory requirements that benefits generally require an honorable discharge remain intact. The bill will move to Appropriations for further consideration.
