BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1644|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1644
Author: Nielsen (R)
Amended: 8/2/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/22/10
AYES: Denham, Correa, Negrete McLeod, Cedillo
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Vacancy, Vacancy
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Hancock, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/22/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Veterans remains
SOURCE : Vietnam Veterans of America-California State
Council
DIGEST : This bill requires a cemetery authority,
cemetery corporation or association, or other entity in
possession of cremated remains to release to a veterans'
remains organization, personal information, regarding the
identity of a deceased veteran or dependent of a veteran
for the purpose of establishing veteran burial entitlement.
This bill authorizes the cemetery authority, cemetery
corporation or association, or other entity in possession
of cremated remains to release the cremains to the
veterans' remains organization for the purpose of
CONTINUED
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interment, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law provides that:
1. When a coroner takes custody of a dead body pursuant to
law, he or she shall make a reasonable attempt to locate
the family.
2. When no other person with a duty of interment can be
located, the entity with custody of the remains can
require the county coroner to take possession of and
inter the remains.
3. A public entity having control of remains to be interred
at public expense shall use due diligence to notify the
relatives of the decedent.
4. A funeral director or cemetery authority is responsible
for the disposition of the remains of decedents in the
event no other individuals with higher priority, as
specified, are located to assume the responsibility.
5. A cemetery authority is not liable for the cremated
remains of any person which have been left in its
possession for a period of one year, unless a written
contract has been entered into with the cemetery
authority for their care or unless permanent interment
has been made.
6. The board of supervisors of each county shall designate
an honorably discharged military service member to inter
indigent veterans and widows of veterans.
7. The military service member appointed to inter the
indigent veteran or veteran's widow must investigate the
ability of the deceased veteran's family and their
ability or inability to pay for the interment of the
veteran or veteran's widow.
8. If there is no family member able to pay for the
interment of the deceased veteran or veteran's widow,
the appointed military service member will inter the
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decedent.
9. The appointed military service member must report back
to the county board of supervisors regarding the payment
of expenses incurred during the interment of the
deceased veteran or veteran's widow.
10.A person who unlawfully disposes, uses, or sells the
body of an unclaimed dead person is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
11.Any person signing any authorization for the interment
or cremation of any remains warrants the truthfulness of
any fact set forth in the authorization, the identity of
the person whose remains are sought to be interred or
cremated, and his or her authority to order interment or
cremation. He or she is personally liable for all
damage resulting from breach of such warranty.
This bill:
1. Authorizes a local county board of supervisors to
designate a member of a Veterans' Remains Organization
as a recipient of the remains of an indigent, abandoned,
or unclaimed veteran or dependent of a veteran for the
purpose of interment.
2. Requires upon request of a Veterans' Remains
Organization, a cemetery authority, cemetery corporation
or association, or other entity in possession of the
cremated remains of a veteran or dependent of a veteran,
after having verified the status of the Veterans'
Remains Organization as an organization authorized by
the Veterans Administration and the National Personnel
Records Center or as an organization authorized by the
local county board of supervisors to verify and inter
unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans, to
release Veteran Status Information, as defined, to a
Veterans' Remains Organization.
3. Specifies that the use or disclosure of Veteran Status
Information obtained by a Veterans' Remains Organization
shall be permitted only for the purpose of verifying
veteran interment benefits of the deceased veteran or
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dependent of a veteran with the Department of Veterans
Affairs (DVA) and shall not be used or disclosed for any
other purpose.
4. Authorizes the cemetery authority, cemetery corporation
or association, or other entity in possession of the
cremated remains of a veteran or dependent of a veteran,
after having verified the status of the Veterans'
Remains Organization as an organization authorized by
the Veterans Administration and the National Personnel
Records Center or as an organization authorized by the
local county board of supervisors to verify and inter
unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans, to
release the cremated remains of the veteran or dependent
of a veteran to a Veterans' Remains Organization for the
sole purpose of interment, under statute, when all of
the following conditions have been met:
A. The Veterans' Remains Organization shall verify
the interment benefits of the deceased veteran or
dependent of a veteran with the DVA and provide
documentation of such verification to the cemetery
authority, cemetery corporation or association, or
other entity that the decedent is a veteran or a
dependent of a veteran, eligible for burial in a
national or state cemetery.
B. The Veterans' Remains Organization shall make a
reasonable effort to locate the agent or family
member who has the right to control the cremated
remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran.
C. An agent or family member who has the right to
control the cremated remains of the veteran or
dependent of a veteran has made no attempt to claim
the cremated remains.
D. The cremated remains have been in the possession
of the cemetery authority, cemetery corporation or
association, or other entity for a period of at
least one year.
5. Prescribes that the cemetery authority, cemetery
corporation or association, or other entity that
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releases Veteran Status Information or cremated remains
of the veteran or dependent of a veteran, under statute,
shall not be subject to civil liability, except for
gross negligence.
6. Requires a Veterans' Remains Organization to take all
reasonable steps to inter the cremated remains of a
veteran or dependent of a veteran received, under
statute.
7. Prescribes that a Veterans' Remains Organization that
receives and inters the cremated remains of a veteran or
dependent of a veteran under statute shall not be liable
for negligence if the Veterans' Remains Organization
does not know or have reason to know that the cremated
remains of the veteran or dependent of a veteran were
not released, under statute, by the cemetery authority,
cemetery corporation or association, or other entity.
8. Encourages local county boards of supervisors to appoint
personnel from a Veterans' Remains Organization to inter
indigent veterans or dependents of veterans.
9. Defines "Veteran Status Information" to mean the data
required by the DVA to verify the status of a decedent
as either a veteran or the dependent of a veteran for
purposes of eligibility for burial in a national or
state cemetery, including the person's name, service
number, social security number, date of birth, date of
death, place of birth, branch of the service, and
military rank.
10.Defines "Veterans' Remains Organization" to mean any
entity recognized by the Veterans Administration and the
National Personnel Records Center as an organization
authorized to verify and inter unclaimed cremated
remains of American veterans. The term includes a
member or employee of a Veteran Remains Organization as
defined.
Comments
Since 1889, the Legislature has supported the designation
of a military veteran to be responsible for the disposition
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of the remains of indigent veterans or their widows.
Accordingly, the Legislature established a procedure
whereby the local county board of supervisors could
designate a recipient for the purpose of proper remains
disposition.
This bill, sponsored by Vietnam Veterans of America,
establishes procedures whereby all (not just indigent)
unclaimed remains of veterans and veterans' dependents
could be identified and designated to a veterans' remains
organization for proper burial.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/26/10)
Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Council
(source)
AMVETS - Department of California
American Legion, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
Maurice Johannessen AMVETS Post 4
Missing in America Project
Patriot Guard Rider
Robert F. Pasero, California State Chaplain
Submarine Veterans of the Northern California Area
(Cuttlefish Base)
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Department
of California
Victory Insured Through Service
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Missing in America Project, a
supporter of this bill, writes:
[The identification and interment process of veteran
remains] is a tedious and arduous task as current laws
are not sufficient in detail and clarity to enable
open working relationships with entities in possession
of cremated remains. Confusion and inconsistency, in
the knowledge that information on a decedent is public
record leads to inaction or refusal to provide the
information required by the Department of Veterans
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Affairs under US Code, title 38 to receive his
veterans benefits.
It is essential as outlined in [this] bill that
entities in possession of cremated remains release the
required information upon request by authorized groups
and work to inter the veteran with the full military
honors and the respect that is due them. This also
must be accomplished without fear of repercussions for
doing the honorable thing.
[T]his vital piece of legislation [will] provide a
proper resting place for those veterans that are
unclaimed on shelves and in storage rooms unclaimed or
abandoned. We must now enable those entities who have
guarded and protected these veterans for years, to
step forward and allow them to provide the final and
dignified resolution for their efforts without fear of
repercussions.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuller,
Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Fuentes, Huffman,
Vacancy
TSM:do 7/28/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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