BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1505
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 10, 2012

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
                                 Paul J. Cook, Chair
                      AB 1505 (Pan) - As Amended:  April 9, 2012
           
          SUBJECT  :   Department of Veterans Affairs: veterans' benefits

           SUMMARY  :   Requires the California Department of Veterans 
          Affairs (CDVA) to grant certain benefits to certain veterans.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  requires the Department to award 
          qualified benefits for qualified veterans. 

          This bill defines the term "qualified benefits" as:

          Benefits that are administered by the Department of Veterans 
          Affairs and for which federal funds are not used, or impacted, 
          in the provision of the benefit. "Qualified benefits" include, 
          but are not limited to, the following:

             1)   College tuition fee waivers for veterans' dependents.
             2)   Nonresident college fee waiver.
             3)   Disabled veteran business enterprise opportunities.
             4)   Veterans Homes of California.
             5)   Motor vehicle registration fee waiver. 
             6)   Disabled veteran license plates.
             7)   Free license plates.
             8)   Veterans preference in California civil service 
               examinations.
             9)   State of California Veterans Cemetery.
             10)  Fishing and hunting licenses. 
             11)  Employment and unemployment insurance assistance.
             12)  Farm and home loans.
             13)  State parks and recreation pass.
             14)  Business license tax waiver. 
             15)  Property tax exemptions. 

          A "qualified veteran" is any person who served in the Armed 
          Forces of the United States and who meets both of the following 
          conditions:

          1)   Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States 
               resulted solely on the basis of sexual orientation pursuant 
               to any federal policy prohibiting homosexual personnel from 
               serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, 








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               including, but not limited to, Section 654 of Title 10 of 
               the United States Code; and
            2)     Separation did not result from any other violation.

          This bill requires the qualified veteran to provide 
          documentation to the CDVA relating to separation from the Armed 
          Forces of the United States in a form and manner as prescribed 
          by the Department.

           EXISTING LAW  : The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the general 
          prohibition of homosexual persons serving in the military were 
          statutorily and administratively repealed on September 20, 2011. 
          Following the repeal, the US Department of Defense has adopted a 
          policy that allows homosexual persons to serve in the armed 
          forces. 

          Veterans separated with a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge 
          from the military under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy or 
          its predecessor policies are ineligible to receive State and 
          Federal veterans' benefits. 

          In 2009, Attorney General Jerry Brown issued an opinion 
          determining that under existing anti-discrimination law, CDVA 
          may not discriminate against any veteran who was discharged 
          "honorably" or "under honorable conditions" in its 
          administration of veterans' benefits and programs. 

          California Government Code 11135 states that "No person in the 
          State of California shall, on the basis of race, national 
          origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age, sex, sexual 
          orientation, color, genetic information, or disability, be 
          unlawfully denied full and equal access to the benefits of, or 
          be unlawfully subjected to discrimination under, any program or 
          activity that is conducted, operated, or administered by the 
          state or by any state agency, is funded directly by the state, 
          or receives any financial assistance from the state."

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   In 1949, the US Department of Defense issued a 
          memorandum stating that: "homosexual personnel, irrespective of 
          sex, should not be permitted to serve in any branch of the Armed 
          Services in any capacity, and prompt separation of known 
          homosexuals from Armed Forces be made mandatory." 









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          According to the author, since "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) was 
          adopted, approximately 85% of related discharges were made on 
          the basis of statements by the servicemember, while about 15% 
          were based on other evidence. From 1980 until the repeal of 
          DADT, over 32,000 servicemembers were separated under DADT and 
          its predecessor policies. 

          The intent of this bill is to ensure that all veterans who were 
          discharged under DADT or its predecessor policies, regardless of 
          the class of their discharge, may receive full California State 
          veterans' benefits, provided by CDVA and other State and Local 
          Agencies that provide benefits to veterans, so long as they meet 
          the other eligibility requirements and committed no other 
          violations. 

          POLICY QUESTION:  Will the bill be effective in extending 
          benefits to any veteran who is not already eligible?  

          Many state benefits are conditioned on a federal benefits status 
          and/or discharge type.  If a veteran received an honorable 
          discharge, even if he or she was discharged under DADT, that 
          veteran is generally eligible for federal and thus state 
          benefits.  However, without a discharge upgrade from 
          dishonorable or bad conduct, many federal benefits are 
          unavailable and thus, because the state benefit requires a 
          certain federal status trigger, the veteran will remain 
          ineligible for state benefits even if this bill were to pass.  
          Most of the available state benefits have this statutory 
          eligibility construction, with the notable exception of the 
          Veterans Home.  Discharge upgrades are within the purview of the 
          federal government.

          For example, in order to receive the tuition fee waiver, a major 
          state benefit for veterans' dependents, the veteran must have a 
          service connected disability.  In order to have such a rating, 
          the veteran must be eligible for disability benefits from the 
          United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA).  Those 
          with dishonorable discharges are ineligible for federal 
          disability benefits.  Several categories of bad conduct 
          discharges are given the same effect as dishonorable discharges.

          Similarly, in order to receive veterans preference in 
          employment, the eligibility requirements are:

               a) Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated at 








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               10% or greater.
               b) "Wartime" veterans who served have served with honor.
               c) A veteran who served under honorable conditions for a 
               period of at least 181 days
               d) Spouses of totally disabled service-connected veterans.
               e) Unmarried, surviving spouses of a veteran who has died 
               of service-connected causes.

          With the possible exception of (e), all of these conditions 
          depend on federal determinations which may be impossible without 
          a discharge upgrade, an upgrade only available from the federal 
          government.

          Thus it is unclear that the bill will extend benefits to 
          previously ineligible veterans because most state benefits are 
          conditioned on certain federal triggers which will be unaffected 
          by the bill.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Sacramento Valley Veterans
          Equality California
          The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal 
          Employees
          Betty Yee, First District Member, State Board of Equalization
          Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550