Minnesota Session Laws - 1998, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 258-H.F.No. 2338 
                  An act relating to veterans; amending the Gulf War 
                  veterans bonus program to facilitate eligibility 
                  verification; amending Minnesota Statutes 1997 
                  Supplement, section 197.79, subdivision 1. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
        197.79, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this 
        section, the following terms have the meanings given them. 
           (a) "Applicant" means a veteran or a veteran's guardian, 
        conservator, or personal representative or a beneficiary or a 
        beneficiary's guardian, conservator, or personal representative 
        who has filed an application with the commissioner for a bonus 
        under this section. 
           (b) "Application" means a request for a bonus payment by a 
        veteran, a veteran's beneficiary, or a veteran's guardian, 
        conservator, or personal representative through submission of 
        written information on a form designed by the commissioner for 
        this purpose. 
           (c) "Beneficiary" means in relation to a deceased veteran 
        and in the order named: 
           (1) the surviving spouse, if not remarried; 
           (2) the children of the veteran, if there is no surviving 
        spouse or the surviving spouse has remarried; 
           (3) the veteran's surviving parent or parents; 
           (4) the veteran's surviving sibling or siblings; or 
           (5) the veteran's estate. 
           (d) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the department 
        of veterans affairs. 
           (e) "Department" means the department of veterans affairs. 
           (f) "Eligibility period for the bonus" means the period 
        from August 2, 1990, to July 31, 1991. 
           (g) "Guardian" or "conservator" means the legally appointed 
        representative of a minor beneficiary or incompetent veteran, 
        the chief officer of a hospital or institution in which the 
        incompetent veteran is placed if the officer is authorized to 
        accept money for the benefit of the minor or incompetent, the 
        person determined by the commissioner to be the person who is 
        legally charged with the responsibility for the care of the 
        minor beneficiary or incompetent veteran, or the person 
        determined by the commissioner to be the person who has assumed 
        the responsibility for the care of the minor beneficiary or 
        incompetent veteran. 
           (h) "Honorable service" means honorable service in the 
        United States armed forces, as evidenced by: 
           (1) an honorable discharge; 
           (2) a general discharge under honorable conditions; 
           (3) in the case of an officer, a certificate of honorable 
        service; or 
           (4) in the case of an applicant who is currently serving in 
        active duty in the United States armed forces, a certificate 
        from an appropriate service authority that the applicant's 
        service to date has been honorable. 
           (i) "Resident veteran" means a veteran who served in active 
        duty in the United States armed forces at any time during the 
        eligibility period for the bonus, and who also: 
           (1) has been separated or discharged from the United States 
        armed forces, and whose home of record at the time of entry into 
        active duty in the United States armed forces, as indicated on 
        the person's form DD-214 or other documents the commissioner may 
        authorize, is the state of Minnesota; or 
           (2) is currently serving in the United States armed forces, 
        and has a certificate from an appropriate service authority 
        stating that the person:  (i) served in active duty in the 
        United States armed forces at any time during the eligibility 
        period for the bonus; and (ii) had Minnesota as the home of 
        record at the time of entry into active duty in the United 
        States armed forces. 
           (j) "Service connected" means caused by an injury or 
        disease incurred or aggravated while on active duty, as 
        determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 
           (k) "Veteran" has the meaning given in section 197.447, and 
        also includes: 
           (1) a person who is providing honorable service on active 
        duty in the United States armed forces and has not been 
        separated or discharged; or 
           (2) a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of 
        the United States, including the national guard, who was ordered 
        to active duty under United States Code, title 10, section 673b, 
        during the eligibility period for the bonus and who was deployed 
        to a duty station outside the state of Minnesota, as verified by 
        the appropriate service authority.  An applicant's DD-214 form 
        showing eligibility for or award of the Southwest Asia service 
        medal during the eligibility period for the bonus will suffice 
        as verification. 
           "Veteran" does not include a member of the national guard 
        or the reserve components of the United States armed forces 
        ordered to active duty for the sole purpose of training. 
           Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor February 23, 1998 
           Signed by the governor February 25, 1998, 3:08 p.m.