Bill Text: NJ AJR102 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress and President enact Department of Defense report recommendations on expanding access to commissaries and exchanges to certain disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [AJR102 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-AJR102-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Congress and President enact Department of Defense report recommendations on expanding access to commissaries and exchanges to certain disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution urging Congress and the President to enact the recommendations of the 2017 "Report to Congress: Feasibility Study on Expanding Access to Commissaries and Exchanges for Disabled Veterans with 30 Percent or Higher Disability Ratings and Purple Heart Recipients."
Whereas, A 2017 feasibility study was conducted and submitted to Congress on expanding access to commissaries and exchanges for certain disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients; and
Whereas, The report provides background information concerning the resale systems of the Department of Defense and includes an evaluation of the costs to the department and the impact on the disabled veteran community if its members are authorized access to commissaries and exchanges; and
Whereas, According to the report, the department determined that it is feasible to extend limited commissary and exchange privileges to veterans with a 30 percent or higher service-connected disability rating and to Purple Heart recipients; and
Whereas, The department also determined that if Congress authorizes the department to assess a five percent commissary user fee on new and secondary commissary patron groups, the user fee would offset increased commissary operational costs; and
Whereas, The study recognizes that disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients are spread across the nation, and so existing commissary and exchange facilities are able to absorb them without adversely affecting either the facilities or the service provided to the current patron base; and
Whereas, According to the report, the exchange system is essentially a self-funded system, with the revenues generated from additional sales paying for any additional operating costs and any requirements for facility improvement driven by the increased patron volume; and
Whereas, Extending commissary and exchange privileges would provide disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients with at least 15 percent savings on grocery and household items even after paying the proposed five percent user fee, saving a family of four approximately $2,250 annually in grocery shopping alone; and
Whereas, Extension of the commissary and exchange privileges would also provide tangible and valued recognition of the sacrifice disabled veterans and Purple Heart Recipients have made in service to the United States; and
Whereas, It is entirely fitting and proper to extend commissary and exchange privileges to disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients; now, therefore,
Be It
Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature and the Governor of the State of New Jersey urges Congress and the President of the United States to enact the recommendations of the 2017 "Report to Congress: Feasibly Study on Expanding Access to Commissaries and Exchanges for Disabled Veterans with 30 Percent or Higher Disability Ratings and Purple Heart Recipients."
2. Copies of this joint resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, each member of Congress elected from this State, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Defense.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This joint resolution urges Congress and the President of the United States to enact the recommendations of the "Report to Congress: Feasibly Study on Expanding Access to Commissaries and Exchanges for Disabled Veterans with 30 Percent or Higher Disability Ratings and Purple Heart Recipients."
The Department of Defense determined that it is feasible to extend limited commissary and exchange privileges to veterans with a 30 percent or higher service-connected disability rating and to Purple Heart recipients, provided that the department is permitted to assess a five percent commissary user fee on new and secondary commissary patron groups to offset increased commissary operational costs. Additional appropriate fund support would not be required if Congress provides authority to charge the user fee.
The department recognizes that a large influx of new patrons is necessary to continue efficiently providing commissary and exchange benefits into the future and revenues generated from additional sales will pay for any additional operating costs and any requirements for facility improvements driven by the patron volume.
Extending commissary and exchange privileges would also provide a tangible and valued recognition of the sacrifice disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients have made in service to the United States.
