Finding out that I wasn’t a Veteran after 52 years of kidding myself – This last Friday [8/27] I went in to the California DMV to “renew” my driver’s license – I parked my Disabled Veteran plated pickup in a “Disabled” spot – put my leg brace on, got to the back and was retrieving my walker when I wonderful young DMV guy came over to help me – then walked me into the DMV around the regular line wherein a super nice woman asked me what I needed… Told her my license had expired [on birthday] last September and they had given me a 1 year extension in the mail [showed her that] – now it was due to expire again… She then asked if I wanted a “REAL” ID license, to which I answered yes, further showing [what I thought were] all the things listed as necessary… Note; my license was expired with a paper extension and my passport was also expired = seeming to have reduced those to NON-existence, but I was prepared with my “Federally Approved” VA identification card, Birth-certificate, etc. At this point this very nice lady asked if I also wanted a newly approved “Veteran” stamp emblazoned on my new license, Why sure ma’am… Even had a certified copy of my discharge papers [DD214] with me = Note: all my stuff was in the same packet in my safe. Well, I sailed through the other two girls who helped me with the new computers they had – THEN at the last station the girl was finalizing everything and she said those words “I SEE YOU WANT VETERAN MARKED on your license – – Yes Ma’am
Well you don’t have the proper paperwork to allow that… What???? Wait, what do you need/want??? I have my “discharge papers” my DD214, My registration for my California “Disabled Veteran” pickup truck – Note; it pretty obvious I’m disabled – at this point I was even pointing out wherein it said “served in Vietnam” [Thinking maybe you have to have served overseas to get this Veteran tag on your Driver’s license???]
She very politely but most firmly stated I had to have something [which I didn’t have] from the VA – I re-pointed out my “Federally Approved” Picture ID VA card, my Disabled Veteran registered PU and my “certified copy” DD214 signed by my Brigade commander [which includes info about being transferred from “active duty” to the VA… Well, folks it wasn’t enough to support whatever was required from California DMV –
I’m now wondering who brought that bill in the California Legislature and what it really might have been about…
I never could understand what it was they wanted – saving for that she kept repeating that I “needed” to go to the VA to obtain what she wanted…
AB 1151 – https://trackbill.com/bill/california-assembly-bill-1151-drivers-licenses-veteran-designation/2040083/ Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 21, 2021 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 1151 (Smith) – As Introduced February 18, 2021 Policy Committee: Transportation Vote: 14 – 0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to discontinue, as of July 1, 2022, an existing one-time $5 statutory fee currently charged to a person who requests their driver’s license (DL) or identification card (ID) be printed with the word “VETERAN” to indicate the person has served in the United States Armed Forces. FISCAL EFFECT: 1) Loss of revenue (Motor Vehicle Account (MVA)), of an unknown amount, to DMV to print and issue DLs and IDs with the word “VETERAN.” It is unknown how many veterans will request such a DL or ID each year. DMV reports it issued 205,982 veteran designations since the program’s implementation in November 2015 through March 2021. Were DMV to issue 38,000 veteran-designated DLs and IDs, the department would forgo $190,000 in annual revenue it would have collected to cover its administrative costs, absent this bill becoming law. It is unclear whether DMV will issue 38,000 veteran-designated DLs and IDs, or a greater or lesser number of such DLs and IDs, were this bill to become law. However, it is reasonable to expect demand for veteran-designated DLs and IDs to increase when there is no fee associated with issuance of them. 2) Minor, absorbable costs (MVA) to DMV to make programmatic changes to eliminate the fee. (edited)
Note; She never asked for money/fee/etc
I can’t for the life of me think of anything that would trump a DD214