Flanked by Gopal and Assembly Republicans, Murphy signs bill to protect veterans

Gov. Phil Murphy signed bipartisan legislation today to protect veterans from exploitation by scammers.

“The rules needed to be much more detailed, much more proscriptive because we all know too many instances of veterans getting scammed by bad actors,” Murphy said.  “We owe a debt of gratitude to our nation’s heroes that we can frankly never fully repay.”

Along with Murphy, legislators of both parties have made defending veterans from scammers a top priority.

“Veterans who served and protected our country from our enemies abroad now find themselves in need of protection here at home from bad actors, scammers and dishonest brokers who would target them for ill-gotten financial gain,” State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch), who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said in a press release.

The legislation, A3286/S3292, was passed unanimously in both chambers and outlines how New Jersey will protect veterans from scammers while also detailing enforcement mechanisms. Violations would result in penalties under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

“New Jersey owes it to our veterans and military families to protect them from unscrupulous business practices that target their vulnerabilities and exploit their service to this nation and state,” said Assemblywoman Michele Matsikoudis (R-New Providence), who cosponsored the legislation in the Assembly.

A large group of veterans surrounded Murphy as he signed the legislation into law at the Harold Daley VFW Post in Neptune.

“The VFW thanks the New Jersey Legislature for their bipartisan support of S3292, which led to today’s action by the Governor on this law, making it a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act for persons to receive compensation for advising or assisting or referring any individual to another person to advise or assist, with any veterans benefits mater, except as is permitted under federal law,” said Jeff Walding, the VFW state commander.

Veterans have increasingly become targets of scammers, who offer assistance with benefits and actually end up stealing those benefits. In 2018, for example, 9.8% of all scams reported to the Better Business Bureau came from military personnel – that one in ten veterans report some type of scam has compelled New Jersey legislators to take action.

Legislation that benefits veterans usually garners bipartisan support, evidenced at today’s signing, where Murphy was flanked by Republicans and Democrats.

Indeed, this legislation was propelled by a bipartisan group of legislators. Gopal led the charge in the Senate, while Matskioudis and Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-Franklin) backed the measure in the Assembly.

“Whenever we can reach across the aisle and get things done – especially for veterans – it’s a good thing,” said Matsikoudis.

This bipartisanship was especially glaring when Gopal shared the stage with his two Republican colleagues in the Assembly – Kim Eulner (R-Shrewsbury) and Marilyn Piperno (R-Colts Neck).

“If we can’t come together to honor and serve our veterans, then shame on everybody,” Piperno said in a statement to the Globe.

Murphy echoed this sentiment throughout the bill signing today.

“A very explicit powerful statement about bipartisan support in New Jersey for our veterans,” he said.