An Act To Amend the Military Bureau Laws and Veterans Service Laws
Sec. 1. 37-B MRSA §3, sub-§1, ¶D, as amended by PL 2015, c. 465, Pt. A, §1, is further amended to read:
(1) The Adjutant General shall administer the department subordinate only to the Governor.
(2) The Adjutant General shall establish methods of administration consistent with the law necessary for the efficient operation of the department.
(3) The Adjutant General may prepare a budget for the department.
(4) The Adjutant General may transfer personnel from one bureau to another within the department.
(5) The Adjutant General shall supervise the preparation of all state informational reports required by the federal military establishment.
(6) The Adjutant General shall keep an accurate account of expenses incurred and, in accordance with Title 5, sections 43 to 46, make a full report to the Governor as to the condition of the military forces, and as to all business transactions of the Military Bureau, including detailed statements of expenditures for military purposes.
(7) The Adjutant General is responsible for the custody, care and repair of all military property belonging to or issued to the State for the military forces and shall dispose of military property belonging to the State that is unserviceable. The Adjutant General shall account for and deposit the proceeds from that disposal with the Treasurer of State, who shall credit them to the Capital Repair, Maintenance, Construction and Acquisition Account of the Military Bureau.
(8) The Adjutant General may sell for cash to officers of the state military forces, for their official use, and to organizations of the state military forces, any military or naval property that is the property of the State. The Adjutant General shall, with an annual report, render to the Governor an accurate account of the sales and deposit the proceeds of the sales with the Treasurer of State, who shall credit them to the General Fund.
(9) The Adjutant General shall represent the state military forces for the purpose of establishing the relationship between the federal military establishment and the various state military staff departments.
(10) The Adjutant General shall accept, receive and administer federal funds for and on behalf of the State that are available for military purposes or that would further the intent and specific purposes of this chapter and chapter 3. The Adjutant General shall provide the personnel, supplies, services and matching funds required by a federal cost-sharing arrangement pursuant to 31 United States Code, Chapters 63 and 65 (2013); 32 United States Code (2013); and National Guard Regulation 5-1 (2010). The Adjutant General shall receive funds and property and an accounting for all expenditures and property acquired through such a federal cost-sharing arrangement and make returns and reports concerning those expenditures and that property as required by such a federal cost-sharing arrangement.
(11) The Adjutant General shall acquire, construct, operate and maintain military facilities necessary to comply with this Title and Title 32 of the United States Code and shall operate and maintain facilities now within or hereafter coming within the jurisdiction of the Military Bureau.
(12) The Adjutant General may adopt rules pertaining to compliance with state and federal contracting requirements, subject to Title 5, chapter 375. Those rules must provide for approval of contracts by the appropriate state agency.
(13) The Adjutant General shall allocate and supervise any funds made available by the Legislature to the Civil Air Patrol.
(14) The Adjutant General shall report at the beginning of each biennium to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over veterans' affairs on any recommended changes or modifications to the laws governing veterans' affairs, particularly as those changes or modifications relate to changes in federal veterans' laws. The report must include information on the status of communications with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs regarding the potential health risks to and the potential disabilities of veterans who as members of the Maine National Guard were exposed to environmental hazards at the Canadian military support base in Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada.
(15) The Adjutant General may receive personal property from the United States Department of Defense that the Secretary of Defense has determined is suitable for use by agencies in law enforcement activities, including counter-drug activities, and in excess of the needs of the Department of Defense pursuant to 10 United States Code, Section 2576a, and transfer ownership of that personal property to state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies notwithstanding any other provision of law. The Adjutant General may receive excess personal property from the United States Department of Defense for use by the department, notwithstanding any other provision of law.
(16) The Adjutant General may establish a science, mathematics and technology education improvement program for schoolchildren known as the STARBASE Program. The Adjutant General may accept financial assistance and in-kind assistance, advances, grants, gifts, contributions and other forms of financial assistance from the Federal Government or other public body or from other sources, public or private, to implement the STARBASE Program. The Adjutant General may employ a director and other employees, permanent or temporary, to operate the STARBASE Program.
(17) The Adjutant General shall establish a system, to be administered by the Director of the Bureau of Maine Veterans' Services, to express formally condolence and appreciation to the closest surviving family members of members of the United States Armed Forces who, since September 11, 2001, are killed in action or die as a consequence of injuries that result in the award of a Purple Heart medal. In accordance with the existing criteria of the department for the awarding of gold star medals, this system must provide for the Adjutant General to issue up to 3 gold star medals to family members who reside in the State, one to the spouse of the deceased service member and one to the parents of the service member. If the parents of the service member are divorced, the Adjutant General may issue one medal to each parent. If the service member has no surviving spouse or parents or if they live outside of the State, the Adjutant General may issue a gold star medal to the service member's next of kin, as reported to the department, who resides in the State.
(18) The Adjutant General may establish a National Guard Youth Challenge Program consistent with 32 United States Code, Section 509 (1990). The Adjutant General may accept financial assistance from the Federal Government or other public body or from other sources, public and private, to implement the National Guard Youth Challenge Program. The Adjutant General may employ a director and other employees, permanent or temporary, to operate the program.
(19) The Adjutant General may execute cooperative agreements for purposes described or defined by this Title and other arrangements necessary to operate the department.
(20) The Adjutant General shall act as the Governor's homeland security advisor.
(21) The Adjutant General shall implement a program to identify residents of the State who are not considered veterans but are military retirees or former members of the Maine Army National Guard or Maine Air National Guard who successfully completed service.
(22) The Adjutant General may negotiate and execute agreements to provide state military forces to or accept military forces from other states in support of federally funded National Guard missions.
Sec. 2. 37-B MRSA §102, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 342, §2, is further amended to read:
Sec. 3. 37-B MRSA §152, as amended by PL 2015, c. 465, Pt. D, §1, is further amended to read:
§ 152. Armory Rental Fund; authority to rent armories, readiness centers and other real property
Sec. 4. 37-B MRSA §153, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 684, §2, is amended to read:
§ 153. Authority to rent armories, readiness centers and other real property
The Military Bureau may rent armories , readiness centers and other real property for activities that do not conflict with the military training mission.
Sec. 5. 37-B MRSA §190 is enacted to read:
§ 190. Security at National Guard military facilities and real property of the department
This section governs the provision of security at National Guard military facilities and real property of the department.
Sec. 6. 37-B MRSA §505, sub-§2, ¶A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 521, §3, is further amended to read:
(1) "Child" means a natural child whose mother or father is or was a veteran or a child who was adopted prior to turning 18 years of age and whose adoptive mother or father is or was a veteran and who:
(a) Is at least 16 years of age;
(b) Has graduated from high school; and
(c) Enrolled in a degree program and was awarded benefits under this subsection prior to the child's 22nd birthday. If the child is unable to enroll in a degree program prior to turning 22 years of age due to service in the United States Armed Forces, then the child may apply to begin this benefit until reaching 26 years of age. Other requirements must be met as described in paragraph F.
"Child" also means includes a stepchild who is a member of a veteran's household either at the time of application or, in the event of the veteran's death, at the time of death, and who continues as a member of the household after the death of the veteran. At least 5 years must have elapsed since the veteran married the parent of the stepchild before the stepchild is eligible for educational benefits, and the biological parent of the stepchild must reside in the veteran's household while the stepchild receives educational benefits whose parent is married to an eligible veteran for at least 5 years and remains married to the veteran during the period for which benefits are received.
(2) "Spouse" means the person currently legally married to a living veteran or the unremarried widow or widower of a deceased veteran, not previously divorced from that veteran.
Awards under the educational benefits program are authorized to provide benefits to only one spouse per veteran.
(3) "Veteran" means any person who served in the military or naval forces of the United States and entered the service from this State or has been a resident of this State for 5 years immediately preceding application for aid and, if living, continues to reside in this State throughout the duration of benefits administered under the educational benefits program and who:
(a) Has a total permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability as a result of service;
(b) Was killed in action;
(c) Died from a service-connected disability as a result of service;
(d) At the time of death was totally and permanently disabled due to service-connected disability, but whose death was not related to the service-connected disability; or
(e) Is a member of the Armed Forces on active duty who has been listed for more than 90 days as missing in action, captured or forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government or power.
The continuous residency requirement of this subparagraph does not apply to a person who is receiving educational benefits under this chapter on or before January 1, 2006.
Sec. 7. 37-B MRSA §508, as amended by PL 2013, c. 569, §4, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
A veteran service officer may not knowingly present or prosecute a fraudulent claim against the United States or knowingly provide false information to the United States; demand or accept unlawful compensation for preparing, presenting or prosecuting a claim or advising or consulting concerning a claim; or knowingly present to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs a frivolous claim, issue or argument. A claim, issue or argument is frivolous if the veteran service officer is unable to make a good faith argument on the merits of the position taken or to support the position taken by a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.