§ 20. Women veterans advisory committee. 1. The women veterans\nadvisory committee is hereby created consisting of twelve members, with\nmembers appointed as follows:
(a)six members by the governor;
(b)two\nmembers by the temporary president of the senate;
(c)two members by the\nspeaker of the assembly; and (d) one member each by the minority leader\nof the senate and the minority leader of the assembly. All appointed\nmembers must be women, and veterans who served in the United States\nuniformed services including members of the reserve component. Each\nveteran shall have received an honorable discharge or have a qualifying\ncondition as defined in section one of this article.\n 2. In making appointments pursuant to subdivision one of this section,\nthe following shall be considered
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§ 20. Women veterans advisory committee. 1. The women veterans\nadvisory committee is hereby created consisting of twelve members, with\nmembers appointed as follows: (a) six members by the governor; (b) two\nmembers by the temporary president of the senate; (c) two members by the\nspeaker of the assembly; and (d) one member each by the minority leader\nof the senate and the minority leader of the assembly. All appointed\nmembers must be women, and veterans who served in the United States\nuniformed services including members of the reserve component. Each\nveteran shall have received an honorable discharge or have a qualifying\ncondition as defined in section one of this article.\n 2. In making appointments pursuant to subdivision one of this section,\nthe following shall be considered:\n (a) whether the appointments provide a geographical balance between\nthe urban and rural areas of this state and represent the cultural\ndiversity of this state; and\n (b) the level of activity of the woman in the veteran community.\n 3. The committee shall elect a chair from among its members.\n 4. Each member of the committee shall serve a term of four years.\n 5. A vacancy on the committee shall be filled for the remainder of the\nunexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.\n 6. The committee shall meet at least four times per year at the call\nof the chair.\n 7. A majority of the members of the committee appointed constitutes a\nquorum.\n 8. Each member of the committee:\n (a) serves without compensation, except that a member of the committee\nwho is a state officer or employee may receive her regular compensation\nwhile engaging in the business of the committee; and\n (b) shall be entitled to receive reimbursement for any actual,\nnecessary expenses incurred in the course of performing business for the\ncommittee.\n 9. The committee shall:\n (a) support and assist the department of veterans' services and the\nwomen veterans coordinator pursuant to section nineteen of this article\nin:\n (i) locating, educating and advocating for all women veterans in this\nstate;\n (ii) identifying the unique needs of women veterans;\n (iii) conducting outreach and education through various means,\nincluding, without limitation, the organization of statewide women\nveterans events, the promotion of benefits and health care for women\nveterans and the development of programs that inform students, business\nleaders and educators about the important role women play in the\nuniformed services of the United States;\n (iv) educating women veterans as to benefits and programs that are\navailable to them;\n (v) at least annually, making such recommendations as may be deemed\nnecessary or advisable to the governor, the state legislature, the\ncommissioner of the department of veterans' services and such other\noffices of this state as may be appropriate;\n (vi) making information available regarding job and career\nopportunities;\n (vii) providing outreach regarding available resources for veterans\nwith a qualifying condition as defined in section one of this article;\nand\n (viii) advocating on behalf of women veterans to ensure that the\nprograms and policies of this state and of the United States department\nof veterans' affairs remain open to women and mindful of the elements of\nthe experience of a veteran that are unique to women.\n (b) submit a report on or before February fifteenth of each year,\noutlining the activities of the committee during the preceding calendar\nyear and any recommendations of the committee to the governor and\nlegislature. The report must include, without limitation, information\npertaining to:\n (i) the demographics of women veterans;\n (ii) the current contributions that women veterans have made on behalf\nof the United States and this state;\n (iii) the unique needs of the population of women veterans;\n (iv) recommendations regarding what steps should be taken to reduce\nmisinformation and improve support for programs for women veterans; and\n (v) outreach activities undertaken by the committee.\n 10. The department of veterans' services shall help support the\ncommittee's activities.\n