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An Act To Align the Criteria Used by the Maine Public Employees Retirement System in Determining Veterans' Disability Claims with the Criteria Used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §17924, sub-§3  is enacted to read:
 
3.  Qualification of a disabled veteran.     Subject to the provisions in subsections 1 and 2, if a member applying for a disability retirement benefit is receiving disability compensation from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for a service-connected disability based on a determination of individual unemployability pursuant to 38 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 4.16, it is presumed that the member is disabled under section 17921, subsection 1. This presumption may be rebutted only by evidence not considered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in making the individual unemployability determination. Notwithstanding section 17922, this subsection applies to any application for a disability retirement benefit made by a member on or after October 1, 2018.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §18524, sub-§3  is enacted to read:
 
3.  Qualification of a disabled veteran.     Subject to the provisions in subsections 1 and 2, if a member applying for a disability retirement benefit is receiving disability compensation from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for a service-connected disability based on a determination of individual unemployability pursuant to 38 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 4.16, it is presumed that the member is disabled under section 18521, subsection 1. This presumption may be rebutted only by evidence not considered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in making the individual unemployability determination. Notwithstanding section 18522, this subsection applies to any application for a disability retirement benefit made by a member on or after October 1, 2018.
 
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 128th Legislature, Second Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.