Requires DVA establish Veterans Outdoor Recovery Task Force.

A4056

ASSEMBLY, No. 4056

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 12, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE

District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)

Assemblyman� GERRY
SCHARFENBERGER

District 13 (Monmouth)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Fantasia

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires DVA establish Veterans Outdoor Recovery Task
Force.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to
establish a Veterans Outdoor Recovery Task Force.�

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that research has shown that being outdoors has restorative
powers, helping to inspire people and heal their bodies and spirits.� Research
has also shown that outdoor recreation can be an effective form of treatment,
rehabilitation, and healing for veterans.�

���� According to the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD, between 11 and 20
percent of veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation
Enduring Freedom and 12 percent of veterans who served in Operation Desert
Storm suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder in a given year, and 30
percent of veterans who served in Vietnam have suffered post-traumatic stress
disorder in their lifetime.�

���� Veterans have given so much
for this State and country that an effort to eliminate barriers and provide
more public outdoor space for use by veterans is necessary and appropriate.�

���� 2.��� a.� The Department of
Veterans Affairs shall establish a task force to be known as the Veterans
Outdoor Recovery Task Force.� The task force shall consist of the following
members, or their designees: the Commissioner of the Department of Veterans
Affairs; the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection; the
Commissioner of Health; the Commissioner of Human Services; the Commissioner of
the Department of Agriculture; and any additional member that the Commissioner
of the Department of Veterans Affairs deems necessary and appropriate.

���� b.��� The members of the task
force shall be appointed and shall hold their initial organizational meeting
within 45 days after the effective date of this act.� The task force may
appoint a secretary, who need not be a member of the task force.�

���� c.���� The Commissioner of the
Department of Veterans Affairs and the Commissioner of the Department of
Environmental Protection, or their designees, shall serve as co-chairs of the
task force.� The task force shall meet at the call of the co-chairs.� The task
force shall hold at least three public hearings in different parts of the State
and elicit testimony from the public at such times and places as the co-chairs
shall designate.�

���� 3.��� It shall be the duty of
the task force to:

���� a.���� identify opportunities
to formalize coordination between the Department of Veterans Affairs, public
land agencies, and organizations regarding the use of public lands or other
outdoor spaces for medical treatment and therapy for veterans;

���� b.��� identify barriers that
exist to providing veterans with opportunities for medical treatment and
therapy through the use of outdoor recreation on public lands or other outdoor spaces;
and

���� c.���� develop recommendations
to better facilitate the use of public lands or other outdoor spaces for
preventative care, medical treatment, and therapy for veterans.

���� 4.��� The task force shall
make recommendations for legislation or such other action as it deems
appropriate with regard to improving, expanding, and facilitating the use of
public lands and outdoor spaces to assist veterans with their healing and
recovery.

���� 5.��� The task force shall be
entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the
employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau,
commission or agency, as it may require and as may be available for its
purposes.

���� 6.��� As used in this act,

���� �public lands� means any
recreational land under the jurisdiction of the Federal, State or local
government; and

���� �veteran� means any person
discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve component
thereof, including the National Guard, under conditions other than
dishonorable.�

���� 7.��� The task force shall
report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, pursuant to section
2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and the Governor within eighteen months of
its initial organizational meeting.� The report shall be publicly accessible
and posted on the websites of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Department of Environmental Protection.�

���� 8.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and shall expire after the task force submits its findings
and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature.�

STATEMENT

���� Research has shown that being
outdoors has restorative powers, helping to inspire people and heal their
bodies and spirits.� Research has also shown that outdoor recreation can be an
effective form of treatment, rehabilitation, and healing for veterans.� According
to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD,
between 11 and 20 percent of veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom and 12 percent of veterans who served in Operation Desert
Storm have post-traumatic stress disorder in a given year, and 30 percent of veterans
who served in Vietnam will have had post-traumatic stress disorder in their
lifetime.� Veterans have given so much for this State and country that an
effort to eliminate barriers and provide more public outdoor space for use by
veterans is necessary and appropriate.�

���� The task force will:

���� identify opportunities to
formalize coordination between the Department of Veterans Affairs, public land
agencies, and organizations regarding the use of public lands or other outdoor
spaces for medical treatment and therapy for veterans;

���� identify barriers that exist
to providing veterans with opportunities for medical treatment and therapy
through the use of outdoor recreation on public lands or other outdoor spaces;
and

���� develop recommendations to
better facilitate the use of public lands or other outdoor spaces for
preventative care, medical treatment, and therapy for veterans.

���� The task force may make
recommendations for legislation or such other action as it deems appropriate
with regard to improving, expanding, and facilitating the use of public lands
and outdoor spaces to assist veterans with their healing and recovery.�

���� Under the bill, the term
veteran means any person discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States
or a Reserve component thereof, including the National Guard, under conditions
other than dishonorable.�

���� The task force will report its
findings and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor within
eighteen months of its initial organizational meeting.� The report will be
publicly available and posted on the websites of the Department of Veterans and
the Department of Environmental Protection.� The task force will expire after
the submission of its report.�

���� This bill is modeled on the
federal Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act which was signed into law
in December, 2020.