House Aging, Children & Youth Committee
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Bills discussed (1)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1141
· 2 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1141”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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all right the chair sees a quorum so we'll go ahead and start um representative english is not here today to
run her bill so representative stewart you're recognized to present your
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
0:25
bill Thank you, Madam Chair, are you ready? This is House Bill 1141.
The DOD came to me last year and brought a problem to me that we have. The Arkansas law on disposition of remains of military people and the Department of Defense law was not quite in concert so what what this bill simply does is add a paragraph in that talks about died while serving it gives you the definition of what that service means then on page two if you'll turn to page two paragraph two
is basically the meat meat of it it just says that that the notwithstanding any other declaration made under this section or any of the law, if the decedent died while serving in the branch of the armed forces of the United States, National Guard, or reserve component of the armed forces, the decisions regarding the final disposition of the decedent shall be made by the person authorized to direct disposition on DD Form 93. Each person prior to deployment goes through a pre-deployment package, and then they sign
that form. That's their last wish. They sign their last will and testament. They do everything right before they deploy, knowing that they're going into a situation that could cause them death. They make this declaration. I want my body or the disposition of my body to be made by this person. And then they sign that form. And that form then on page four, or page three, becomes the number one in the sequence of who can do your disposition.
So it's simply inserting one paragraph saying if you're in the military and you sign that DD-93, then that takes precedent over the other Arkansas law. And that's simply, it doesn't affect any civilians or anything. an effective person who dies maybe going to drill it's only those persons who are being deployed and have signed the DD form 93 and with me i have major matt sneed from the arkansas guard if we if you have any questions do you have any questions from the committee
Speaker 12
2:40
Representative Stewart, I just If that person that's been designated Something happens to them during the appointment This
Speaker 14
2:52
goes down to clarify who would follow Yes, there's an order of precedent 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 Alright, that's what I understood, thank you Representative Walker And
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
3:04
the reason this came up, just for a little bit of clarification, is in some situations
you have estranged parents, you have maybe an ex-wife, you have a current wife, you've got an ex-wife and a current girlfriend, and so that was what was causing the problem. And not always, the state law sometimes would prevent the service member from getting his last wish because they would take the state law over the DD form and that was really what he really wanted to do was the DD form Department of Defense and that was if you notice on front page it talks about well one of my notes it says
this is in accordance with section 564 public law effective January 2006 and it was public law brought in due to the fact of so many reservists and National guardsmen is being activated and then losing their life over and overseas. Representative Hammer. Can you
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
4:08
tell me, does this, in this declaration and in the decision-making process, does this also specify whether or not the soldier wants his remains to be cremated or a traditional burial?
Speaker 22
4:22
heard of Major Snead on that. Sir, I actually should have brought a DD-93 with me, but when I signed my DD-93 in 1997, yes sir, it gave you those options. I'm assuming that there has not been a change since that time, but yes sir, obviously on DD-93 for those who have served, I know we have former service members in here, it's not just your remains, but it's also your you allow your insurance, so you just go through, and just like Representative Stewart said,
it's your last will and testimony, and basically what this is, this is just bringing state law up to federal code, is what we're asking
Representative Reginald Murdock
Unverified
5:12
to do here. Representative Monk. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. sir
Speaker 28
5:16
does this supersede any legal will that may have
Speaker 30
5:26
been previously filed yes I think sir when you go when
Speaker 22
5:36
what you do before you deploy it's just a soldier
or service member readiness processing there's a station there where you go before a you do you fill out your DD 93 but you also go before our jag or our staff attorneys and they will look at your current existing will and ensure there's no conflict they will write your will if you don't have a will or you can just use your DD 93 so that's part of the SRP process is to make sure there is no no conflict with an existing will okay that's why I was wondering if
Representative Reginald Murdock
Unverified
6:08
there's legal uh we already been legally filed and it's like the wife gets everything he says someone
Speaker 34
6:14
else gets it and then there you go the quarter
Speaker 22
6:19
or something like that that's what i'm trying to clarify and obviously just like a lot of systems i'm not going to tell you that it's a perfect system but there is a
Speaker 35
6:26
system in place to ensure that that that is de-conflicted will there ever be issues yes sir i'm sure there will be
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
6:46
issues representative Elliott thank you madam chair my question is let's say legal this
legally this soldier is married but in his DD 93 he says leave everything to my girlfriend is that legal yes sir it is legal but what we do
Speaker 22
7:01
in the Arkansas National Guard I cannot speak for other states and I cannot speak for the active duty and or reserve component if you leave any amount of either responsibility disposable remains or your sdli your life insurance to anyone other than your next of kin your spouse we sent a letter to your next of kin
letting them know that hey your service member has deferred this money or this responsibility to this this individual to ensure that we do not upon casualty notification
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
7:39
again if something like that happens then even though they've been received they receive a letter wouldn't the wife or the spouse be were still be responsible for the the remains
or with this other person be responsible for it so you know as a spouse could you
Speaker 5
8:00
just say it's in this case the everyone he puts on
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
8:03
the DD form 93 is the person that he designates to do for the disposal of his remains now this bill only only applies to that nothing to do with the wheel or anything else just the disposition of remains and he on that form puts in who he wants that to be Representative Benedict.
Speaker 45
8:29
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to know what is the difference right now between Arkansas law and federal law?
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
8:39
What? Okay. Right now, Arkansas law says that you have to have two signatures on the form if you choose to do one. Now, most of us don't even have one of those forms on file anywhere. But because these service members are going in a situation where it could cause death, we have gone to the extent to be sure that they do that. And the DD form only has one signature.
The individual signs it and one witness. So that's in contradiction to Arkansas law. Arkansas law says you must have two. So this bill simply makes a caveat for that one instance where a service member who is deployed and loses his life, before he leaves, he can direct who he wants to dispose of his body, and Arkansas will abide by the public law and the DD Form 93.
So that's what we're doing is taking away. Right now, we've got a conflict. One form has one signature. State law says you must have two, so state law does not recognize the DD Form 93. jury, which is the law of the land
under public law. Okay. Thank you. Representative Stewart.
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
9:57
Representative Hammer. Forgive my ignorance as far as everything contained in this DD form, but can you educate
me and the committee, please, as far as I understand if a soldier dies off, his responsibility to get the body back is here. As far as the expense that's incurred with the burying of the remains, and the reason I ask this question is, if a soldier wanted to change the previous arrangements, say in the spur of a moment, and he says, I want so-and-so to take care of burying my remains, and that financial hardship goes with that responsibility, can you educate me as far as how that's covered
Speaker 22
10:37
or how that's addressed, please? Yes, sir. If a soldier dies on active duty or while deployed, there is no financial obligation unless the family or next of kin chooses to bury them in a family cemetery or do something special outside of what the Department of Defense authorizes. So even if he changes or she changes that DD-93 to someone else, the DOD still picks up the bill if they die on active duty or while deployed.
Like I said, unless that person who incurred the responsibility, they would have to choose to do something above and beyond or out of the norm to incur a cost. Thank you. Representative Summers, you're recognized
for a motion. I move due pass.
Representative Summers has made a motion of due pass.
All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion passes. Thank you, Madam Chair. And this must
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
11:48
be one of your first bills. The second one. I thought so. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
They're not here to do it. Is there any other business to come before the committee today? Seeing none, then quickly before we adjourn, we may or may not meet Friday, so I will let you all know. And just a reminder to leave your blue folders on the desk, please. And that is it. We are adjourned.
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Speakers
Representative Tim Summers Chair
Unverified
Representative Randy Stewart
Unverified
Speaker 12
Speaker 14
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 22
Representative Reginald Murdock
Unverified
Speaker 28
Speaker 30
Speaker 31
Speaker 34
Speaker 35
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
Speaker 5
Speaker 45