New Jersey S 1065: Establishes New Jersey Veteran Services Grant Program in DMVA; makes appropriation.

Bill Text

(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 1/29/2024)
SENATE, No. 1065

STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Veteran Services Grant Program in DMVA; makes
appropriation.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

S1065 GREENSTEIN, BEACH
2

AN ACT establishing the New Jersey Veteran Services Grant 1
Program and supplementing Title 38A of the New Jersey 2
Statutes, and making an appropriation. 3
4
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 5
of New Jersey: 6
7
1. a. There is established in the Department of Military and 8
Veterans Affairs a veteran services grant program. The purpose of 9
the program shall be to assist veterans in applying for and receiving 10
State and federal benefits and to provide training for veterans 11
service officers employed by the department. The grants shall be 12
awarded to qualified veterans’ organizations. 13
b. The grants shall be allocated on a competitive basis. The 14
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall: 15
(1) develop guidelines and procedures for the submission of 16
grant applications, and criteria for the evaluation of such 17
applications; 18
(2) establish terms and conditions for the awarding of a grant 19
under this section, and monitor grant recipients’ compliance with 20
the terms and conditions; 21
(3) require the recipient of the grant to report to the department 22
information relating to its use of grant funds under the program; and 23
(4) submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of 24
P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature, during each year in 25
which a grant is awarded, on the effectiveness of the grant program 26
in assisting veterans with applications for State and federal benefits 27
and in providing training for the veterans service officers of the 28
department. 29
A qualified veterans’ organization that seeks to apply for a grant 30
under this program shall submit an application to the department. 31
The application shall, at a minimum, include a detailed outline of 32
the training to be provided to State veterans service officers or the 33
number of additional veterans service officers the organization will 34
provide to veterans, or both. 35
A qualified veterans’ organization may be awarded a grant for 36
training only, veterans’ assistance only, or both. Each recipient of a 37
grant shall report to the department information relating to its use of 38
grant funds under the program. 39
c. The department may, pursuant to the "Administrative 40
Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules 41
and regulations as are necessary to establish and implement the 42
grant program. 43
d. The Adjutant General shall include with the annual budget 44
request for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs a 45
request for funds sufficient to carry out the purposes and intent of 46
this section. 47

S1065 GREENSTEIN, BEACH
3

e. As used in this section, "qualified veterans’ organization" 1
means a nonprofit veterans' organization that qualifies as a section 2
501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) tax exempt organization under the Internal 3
Revenue Code, or a federally chartered Veterans' Service 4
Organization. 5
6
2. There is appropriated $2,000,000 from the General Fund to 7
the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs for the New Jersey 8
Veteran Services Grant Program. 9
10
3. This act shall take effect immediately. 11
12
13
STATEMENT 14
15
This bill establishes the New Jersey Veteran Services Grant 16
Program to assist veterans in applying for and receiving State and 17
federal benefits and to provide training for veterans service officers 18
employed by the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs 19
(DMVA). 20
The grants will be awarded to qualified veterans’ organizations 21
on a competitive basis based on criteria developed by DMVA. An 22
application for a grant must have a detailed outline of the training 23
that will be provided to State veterans service officers or the 24
number of additional veterans service officers the organization will 25
provide to assist veterans with applying for and receiving State and 26
federal benefits, or both. Implementation of the grant program 27
would be subject to a future appropriation by the Legislature. 28
Under the bill, “qualified veterans' organization” is defined as a 29
nonprofit veterans' organization that qualifies as a section 501(c)(3) 30
or 501(c)(19) tax exempt organization under the Internal Revenue 31
Code, or a federally chartered Veterans' Service Organization. 32
This bill also appropriates $2,000,000 from the General Fund to 33
the department to defray the costs of the grant program. 34