File No. 366

Senate, April 5, 2011

The Committee on Transportation reported through SEN. MAYNARD of the 18th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE INDICATION OF A PERSON'S STATUS AS A VETERAN ON A MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR'S LICENSE AND IDENTITY CARD.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 14-36h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) Each motor vehicle operator's license issued by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles in accordance with section 14-36 and each identity card issued by said commissioner in accordance with section 1-1h shall contain the following: (1) The person's full legal name; (2) the person's date of birth; (3) the person's gender; (4) the person's height and eye color; (5) the person's assigned operator's license or identity card number; (6) the person's address of principal residence in this state; (7) the person's signature; [and] (8) the person's color photograph or digital image; and (9) if applicable, the person's status as a veteran, as provided in subsection (d) of this section.

(b) The commissioner shall provide that each such license or identity card document contains physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting or duplication of the document.

(c) Each such document shall also contain one or more machine-readable technology feature or component, including, but not limited to, a bar code or magnetic strip.

(d) The commissioner shall, upon request of any person who is a veteran, indicate such person's status as a veteran on any motor vehicle operator's license or identity card issued to such person, provided the commissioner verifies such person's status as a veteran from a military discharge document presented by such person. Any motor vehicle operator's license or identity card issued to such person by the commissioner shall indicate, based on the information contained in such military discharge document, (1) that such person is a veteran who performed service in time of war, or (2) if such person is a veteran who did not perform service in time of war, that such person is a veteran.

[(d)] (e) As used in this section: [, the term "full] (1) "Full legal name" means the most complete version of the name that appears on a person's certificate of birth, official passport or other document or documents accepted by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to verify the person's identity, unless the person presents a marriage license or certificate, a certificate of civil union, a divorce decree or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction pertaining to a permanent change of the person's name; and (2) "veteran" and "service in time of war" have the same meanings as provided in subsection (a) of section 27-103.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: TF=Transportation Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

There is a one-time cost of $250,000 in FY 14 to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for programming an interface system between the driver's licensing database system, the license card production system, and the Department of Veteran's Affairs (DVA). The interface system between DMV and DVA is required in order for DMV to verify the status of veterans.

The costs are anticipated to occur in FY 14 after necessary changes are completed to comply with the federal REAL-ID Act requirements. These changes to accommodate REAL-ID are expected to be finalized by July 1, 2013. Therefore any costs that would occur to implement an identifier on driver's licenses or DMV identification cards are not anticipated until FY 14.

The Out Years

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

OLR Bill Analysis

SB 371

AN ACT CONCERNING THE INDICATION OF A PERSON'S STATUS AS A VETERAN ON A MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR'S LICENSE AND IDENTITY CARD.

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the motor vehicles commissioner to include a person's status as a veteran, if applicable, on his or her driver's license or identity card. The person must request to have this status included and provide as proof a military discharge document (DD Form 214 or similar forms). The commissioner must verify the person's status from the discharge document.

The bill also requires the license or identity card to indicate, based on the military discharge document, that the person is (1) a veteran with service in time of war or (2) a veteran. Under state law, a “veteran” is an individual honorably discharged or released under honorable conditions from active service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Service in time of war means at least 90 days active service in the U.S. Armed Forces during a statutorily defined period of war, unless the veteran was separated earlier by war (a U.S. Veterans' Administration-rated service-connected disability or the war lasted less than 90 days).

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2011

BACKGROUND

By law, “armed forces” means the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force and any of their reserve components, including the Connecticut National Guard when under federal service.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Select Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Joint Favorable Change of Reference

Transportation Committee

Joint Favorable