TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey lawmakers are seeking to make it easier for disabled New Jersey veteran to get state handicap privileges.
On Monday, the Assembly passed the bill (S660/A2438), which cuts the beauracratic red tape for service-disabled veterans.
“I am happy we can provide a little helping hand to veterans who are 100% disabled due to a service-related condition,” Wirths (R-Sussex) said. “Any little bit the state can do to make life easier for these men and women who served their country, I am behind 100%.”
In accordance with the bill, veterans who are 100% disabled must submit a statement of disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs only with their initial parking application to the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission.
As a result of current law, they must submit that statement at the time of renewal. In New Jersey, honorably discharged veterans who are 100% disabled as a result of a service-related condition are eligible to receive certain unemployment benefits, health care coverage, and educational benefits. P
“Any bill that peels away at the layers of bureaucracy to help our veterans is something I support,” Space (R-Sussex) added. The latest VA data from 2019 shows 350,538 veterans live in New Jersey. Of those, 60,027 receive disability compensation, although it’s unreported how many of those are 100% disabled. The bill, sponsored by Republican Leader Sen. Steven Oroho, passed in the Senate last March.
Even with his full suite of body tattoos, New Jersey Assemblyman Parker Space was able to move legislation for disabled New Jersey veterans forward.
Space has come under fire by traveling politician Steve Lonegan recently, who has made the owner of Space Farms Zoo’s tattoos an election issue. Lonegan contends that Space’s tattoos interfere with his ability to govern and make him look like a biker.
Read more on that here: North Jersey election race shifts focus to tattoos, motorcycles and the Dukes of Hazzard
According to a bill sponsored by Assemblymen Hal Wirths and Parker Space, veterans who are 100% disabled will have less paperwork to fill out when renewing their parking privileges.