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Senate Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs releases veterans bills and Chair McCourty urges Memorial Day remembrance
Summary
The Senate Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs released multiple veterans-related bills and joint resolutions—covering veteran license plates, training and tuition, outreach, and suicide-prevention funding—and closed the session with Chair McCourty’s Memorial Day remarks honoring a fallen Marine.
The Senate Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs released a package of veterans-focused bills and joint resolutions during its meeting, and Chair McCourty closed the session with a Memorial Day remembrance.
The committee voted to release S1548, which authorizes a specialty “support our veterans” license plate with proceeds directed to New Jersey homeless veteran centers; committee amendments add the specific Veterans Haven North Council and Veterans Haven South Council by name and replace references to the former Department of Military and Veterans Affairs with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Committee support was recorded and the bill was released as amended.
The committee also released S2576, which permits issuance of a motorcycle endorsement to certain out-of-state military personnel; S2579, which allows spouses and dependents of military service members who transfer to New Jersey to qualify for in-state tuition; and S2954, titled the New Jersey Veterans to Local Government Employee Act, which requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to post certain information on its website and at veteran service offices and requires DLGS to post specified information on its website. S3475, which authorizes DVA to receive voluntary contributions for veteran suicide-prevention public service announcements, was released as amended. Support for the package was recorded from groups including the State Veterans Chamber of Commerce, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), USAA, and representatives of Care Plus.
On procedural items, committee staff noted S1088 was being held at the sponsor’s request pending additional work. For each released bill the committee recorded a roll-call vote and the clerk announced that the measure had been released (the transcript records affirmative roll-call responses by the members present).
Chair McCourty opened and closed the meeting with remarks tied to the upcoming holiday. He led the body in a moment of silence “for all the fallen uniformed heroes and patriots we will be mourning on Memorial Day,” and later reflected on the life of Sergeant William Kehrer, a Marine killed in Afghanistan, saying, “freedom is not free.” He urged members and the public to observe Memorial Day as a time to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The committee adjourned following those remarks.
The bills now move forward from committee for further legislative processing according to standard Senate procedures.
