SACRAMENTO — When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed his name to Assembly Bill 1952 by Patty Berg late last month, he put into law an idea about fairness and gratitude to veterans championed by Fortuna resident Carl Young.

Young, 56, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, offered his idea to Assemblywoman Berg’s office, supported the bill as it moved through the legislative process, and wrote a letter to Schwarzenegger urging the governor to sign the bill.

Having earned the governor’s signature, the bill will become law Jan. 1, 2009. When it does, a long-lasting bureaucratic mess will be untangled once and for all.

The new law will make clear that all honorably discharged veterans have the right to open a business without having to pay a local business license fee.

For decades, cities and counties have wavered back and forth over whether all veterans or only disabled veterans should receive this gesture of goodwill and gratitude. There were two World War II-era laws, and each gave the impression that the other was wrong. Counties, it seemed, could to it one way, and cities another.

“Our state made a promise to its veterans over 60 years ago,” said Young. “To date, that promise hasn't been kept by many cities.”

On New Year’s Day, thanks to the idea Carl Young shared with Patty Berg, all of that will change.

“When the state makes a promise, that promise should be kept,” said Berg. “That’s the simple message of this law.”

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