(a) Any city or town, either separately or with one or more other cities and towns, may, by ordinance, establish a local veterans’ advisory committee which shall have the responsibility of carrying out locally the duties and purposes of this section and, within their charter powers and as otherwise provided by law, may make available to such local committees the necessary funds to carry out their duties and responsibilities. The committee may (1) act as the coordinating agency in all matters concerning veterans and their dependents, coordinating the activities of public and private facilities concerned with veterans’ reemployment, education, rehabilitation and adjustment to peacetime living; (2) cooperate with all national, state and local governmental and private agencies in securing services and benefits to which a veteran or his dependents may be entitled; (3) use the services and facilities of the veterans organizations so far as possible to carry out the purposes of this section; and (4) encourage and coordinate vocational training services for veterans.

(b) (1) Any city or town that has not established its own local veterans’ advisory committee separate from one or more other cities or towns pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and does not otherwise provide funding for a veterans’ service officer shall designate a city or town employee to serve as a veterans’ service contact person in such city or town. The Commissioner of Veterans Affairs shall annually send to the chief executive officer of any such city or town an electronic notification of such chief executive officer’s duty to so designate a city or town employee in accordance with this subsection. Such chief executive officer shall, not later than thirty days after receipt of such notification, submit to the Office of Advocacy and Assistance, as described in subsection (b) of section 27-102l, the name and electronic mail address of the city or town employee so designated. As used in this subdivision, “chief executive officer” means the officer described in section 7-193.

(2) Any city or town employee designated as a veterans’ service contact person shall carry out the duties described in subsection (a) of this section and shall complete a training course conducted by the Office of Advocacy and Assistance, as described in subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 27-102l, or attend a training session conducted by the manager of said office, as described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of said section. Each employee so designated prior to July 1, 2016, shall complete such training course prior to January 1, 2017. Each employee so designated on or after July 1, 2016, shall complete such training course not later than one year after the date of such designation. Upon completion of such training course, a veterans’ service contact person may thereafter receive electronically any new or updated training information from the Office of Advocacy and Assistance and shall not be required to complete any other such training course.

(1949, S. 1647d; 1957, P.A. 13, S. 78; P.A. 13-34, S. 2; P.A. 14-56, S. 2; P.A. 16-68, S. 3; 16-192, S. 2; P.A. 17-36, S. 3.)

History: P.A. 13-34 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a), added Subsec. (b) re veterans’ service contact person, and made technical changes; P.A. 14-56 amended Subsec. (b)(1) to replace “a” with “its own” and add “separate from one or more other cities or towns”, effective May 23, 2014; P.A. 16-68 amended Subsec. (b) by designating existing provisions re designation of veterans’ service contact person as new Subdiv. (1) and amending same by adding provisions re electronic notification to chief executive officer, submission of name and electronic mail address of designated city or town employee and definition of “chief executive officer”, designating existing provisions re contact person duties and training course as new Subdiv. (2) and amending same by replacing “may complete an annual” with “shall complete a” and adding provisions re completion of training course, and making conforming changes; P.A. 16-192 amended Subsec. (b) by adding “subdivision (1) of” in reference to Sec. 27-102l(b) and adding provision re attending training session conducted by unit head as described in Sec. 27-102l(b)(2)(A); P.A. 17-36 amended Subsec. (b) to replace references to veterans’ advocacy and assistance unit with references to Office of Advocacy and Assistance, replace “unit head” with “manager”, and replace reference to Sec. 27-102l(b)(1) with reference to Sec. 27-102l(b)(3) in Subdiv. (2).