Wilson

I

We are to decide whether the distribution of veterans’ benefits conditioned on California residency at a fixed point in the past violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection of the laws. We conclude that we are constrained by recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court to hold the statutes providing for such a distribution are unconstitutional.

II

Chapter 6 of the Military and Veterans Code, entitled “State Benefits for Veterans,” provides for veterans’ benefits including tuition and living expenses for students (Mil. & Vet. Code, § 980 et seq.), farm and home loan assistance (id., §§ 985 et seq., 987.50), and disaster indemnity (§ 989.4 et seq.). Defining eligibility for benefits under the chapter as a whole, section 980 provides in pertinent part:

In a separate chapter providing for education benefits for veterans’ dependents, section 890 defines the term “veteran” as follows: “any person who served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States and was killed in action or died as a result of war service in the World War since April 6, 1917; (2) any member of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard or Marine Corps of the United States, or any…