Disabled Veterans Family Passport; established, free entry into state parks and discounted services.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information about specific consequences for losing or damaging a passport.

Disabled Veterans' Family Passport Act

This law creates a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport that allows immediate family members of disabled veterans to enter state parks in Virginia without paying fees.

What This Bill Does

• Creates the Disabled Veteran's Family Passport program.
• Allows immediate family members of disabled veterans to get the passport and use it to enter state parks without paying parking or admission fees.
• Requires immediate family members to provide proof from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or their military service that the veteran has a 100% disability rating, along with documentation proving familial relationship.
• Permits the Department of Conservation and Recreation to ask for updated documentation every five years to keep the passport valid.

Who It Names or Affects

• Immediate family members of disabled veterans who can get a free pass to enter state parks in Virginia.
• The Department of Conservation and Recreation which will manage the program.

Terms To Know

immediate family member

A spouse or dependent child of a veteran.

service-connected disability rating

An official assessment by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that links a veteran's health condition to their military service.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if someone loses or damages their passport.
• It is unclear how many people will apply for and use this program.
• There are no details on the cost of implementing and managing the program.

Official Summary Text

Department of Conservation and Recreation; Disabled Veteran's Family Passport; free entry into state parks and discounted services.
Directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport that entitles the bearer to enter state parks in the Commonwealth without the payment of a parking or admission fee. The bill provides that the Passport will be issued upon request to any immediate family member, as defined in the bill, of a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States who provides certain documentation to the Department. The bill authorizes the Department to require passport holders to re-certify such documentation no more than once every five years.

Current Bill Text

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
10.1-202.4
, relating to Disabled Veteran's Family Passport established; free entry into state parks.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
10.1-202.4
as follows:

§
10.1-202.4
.
Disabled Veteran's Family Passport established; free entry into state parks.

A. For the purposes of this section, "immediate family member" means a spouse or dependent child.

B. The Department shall establish a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport that entitles the bearer to enter state parks in the Commonwealth
upon the presentation of such passport
without the payment of a parking or admission fee
, but
does
not e
ntitle the bearer to any other discount, such as
discounts on
special event fees, program
fees,
amenity fees, or
concessions char
ges
, including charges imposed by third-party concessionaires
.
The passport shall be issued upon request to
the following:

1.

A
n imm
ediate family member of a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States
who provides to the Department (
i
) a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or from the military service that discharged the veteran, certifying that such veteran has a service-connected disability rating of 100 percent and (
ii
) a marriage certificate, birth certificate,
adoption record, or other documentation, in a form and manner prescribed b
y the Department,
that is
sufficient to demonstrate
that
the
person is an immediate family member; or

2.

A
n immediate family member of a deceased veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States, whose death was the result of a service-connected disability, who provides to the Department (
i
) documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or from the military service that discharged the veteran, certifying that the death of such deceased veteran was the result of a service-connected disability and (
ii
)
a marriage certificate, birth certificate, adoption record, or other documentation, in a form and manner prescribed by the Department, that is sufficient to demonstrate that the person is an immediate family member
.

C. The Department may
, no more than once every five years
per passport holder
,
require

all
persons bearing a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport to provide

the documentation required by subdivisions B 1 and 2
to the Department

to
certify ongoing eligibility for the passport.