The Office of Legislative Research writes nonpartisan reports for legislators on various topics. Recent reports related to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s subject areas include:

Putnam Phalanx – 2024-R-0014

State Property Tax Exemptions on Real Property for 100% Service-Connected Disabled Veterans – 2024-R-0038 

State Mandated Property Tax Benefits for Veterans with P&T Disabilities – 2024-R-0003

Veterans Property Tax Exemptions by Town: State Mandated Exemptions – 2024-R-0004

Veterans Property Tax Exemptions by Town: Municipal-Option Exemptions – 2024-R-0018

Veterans Property Tax Exemptions by Town: Total Benefit Amounts & Recipients – 2024-R-0020

State Requirements for Veterans Claiming Municipal Veteran Property Tax Exemptions – 2023-R-0293

Veterans with a Permanent and Total Disability by Town – 2023-R-0287

Military Discharge Upgrades – 2023-R-0253

Veterans’ Property Tax Exemptions – 2023-R-0175

State agencies

Dept. of Veterans Affairs

Military Department

Office of Military Affairs

Dept. of Labor’s veterans services

Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Fund (administered by the American Legion)

 

State boards, commissions, and task forces

Rocky Hill Veterans’ Home Working Group

 

Federal government

Dept. of Veterans Affairs

            Hartford Regional Benefits Office

            list of other VA facilities in Connecticut

 

Other organizations

American Legion

American Legion Auxiliary

American Legion, Department of Connecticut

Disabled American Veterans (DAV)

Military Order of the Purple Heart

Veterans of Foreign Wars

 

Other online resources

RAND Corporation research on military veterans

Pew Research Center research on military and veterans

Connecticut law about military affidavits – research guide by the Judicial Branch Law Libraries

Stars and Stripes – newspaper published by the Dept. of Defense

NCSL Military and Veterans Legislation Database – from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Tracks legislation from 2010-present.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list. Contact the library for these and other reports.

Armory construction/purchase program – annual report by the CT Military Dept. and CT National Guard; pursuant to CGS 27-45

Military facility usage annual report – by the CT Office of the Adjutant General; pursuant to CGS 27-39(f)

Military occupational licensing data report – annual reports by each licensing authority; pursuant to CGS 4-61bb(c)

Military relief fund annual report – by the CT Office of the Adjutant General; pursuant to CGS 27-100a(f)

Office of Military Affairs annual report – pursuant to CGS 32-58b

Recommendations regarding recognition of relevant military education, skills and training in the occupational certification and licensing processRecommendations regarding recognition of relevant military education, skills and training in the occupational certification and licensing process – January 2020 report by the Dept. of Labor; pursuant to PA 14-131 s.15

Unemployed Armed Forces Member Subsidized Training and Employment (Step Up) Program – semiannual report by the Dept. of Labor; pursuant to CGS 31-3uu(d)

Volunteer service program annual report – by the CT Military Dept.; pursuant to CGS 27-100b(d)

For OLR Reports and other materials related to the Veterans Affairs’ Committee’s work, index headings include:

Cemeteries
Education-Higher
Employment
Flags
Funerals
Military
Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Fund
Tax Exemptions-Veterans
Veterans

The library assigns topical index headings to all OLR Reports and keeps hard copies of the reports organized by these index headings. Reports from 1994 to the present are in the library’s file cabinets (aka the “vertical files”) in the red-tabbed folders, as well as online in full text. Older reports are in two sets of bound volumes (one set for the 1970s, and one for 1980-1993) on the library’s shelves.

The same index headings the library uses for OLR Reports have been used to organize over 600 subject files of materials such as newspaper clippings, court decisions, press releases, pamphlets, and other resources that would be more difficult to locate if they were dispersed throughout the library’s general collection. The subject files are in the blue-tabbed folders in the file cabinets. (Many of the items in these folders have also been digitized by the library, and their electronic versions can be found in the library’s intranet catalog.)

Guide to Benefits – from the state Dept. of Veterans Affairs

For the past several years, almost all newly published items added to the library’s collection have been in electronic format only. These items are accessible in full text through the library’s intranet catalog. Many old print materials have also been digitized and uploaded to the library’s catalog.

To get a general sense of a subject’s history, however, you may find it useful to browse the library stacks in certain locations to see print copies of older publications (and the occasional newer item that was published both electronically and in print). For publications related to veterans’ affairs, call number ranges include, but are not limited to:

338.48 production – government policies
(defense industry)

355 military science

Hard copies of mandated reports that were produced only once or as a limited series are shelved by the number of the act that required the report. Hard copies of mandated reports produced regularly with no set end date (for example, state agencies’ annual reports) are shelved in the stacks by subject.

The Choice Act and veterans’ educationThe Choice Act and veterans’ education – by Suzanne Hultin, NCSL, 2015

Department of Veterans’ Affairs: Office of Advocacy and AssistanceDepartment of Veterans’ Affairs: Office of Advocacy and Assistance – by the Office of Program Review and Investigations, 2015

Preparing for duty: state policy options to sustain military installationsPreparing for duty: state policy options to sustain military installations – by Jennifer Schultz, NCSL, 2016

State policies on service dogs for military veteransState policies on service dogs for military veterans – by James B. Reed, NCSL, 2015

Veterans’ Home at Rocky Hill: residential servicesVeterans’ Home at Rocky Hill: residential services – by the Office of Program Review and Investigations, 2014

Who is a “veteran”? – basic eligibility for veterans’ benefitsWho is a “veteran”? – basic eligibility for veterans’ benefits – by Scott D. Szymendera, Congressional Research Service, 2016