BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 843|
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                                    CONSENT 


          Bill No:  SB 843
          Author:   Wolk (D)
          Amended:  3/24/11
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE  :  8-0, 4/13/11
          AYES:  Correa, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Lieu, Negrete 
          McLeod, Rubio, Runner 


           SUBJECT  :    Veterans' Home of California

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill updates the California Military and 
          Veterans Code (MVC) to reflect the addition of newly 
          constructed homes in the veteran's home system.


           ANALYSIS  :     Existing law  


             1.   Provides for the establishment and operation of the 
               Veterans' Home of California at various sites, and for 
               an administrator for each home or homesite. Existing 
               law defines "administrator" to mean the Administrator 
               of the Veterans' Home of California, Yountville, and 
               the Administrator of the Veterans' Home of California, 
               Barstow.


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             2.   Declares that there is in the Department of 
               Veterans Affairs a Veterans' Home of California, 
               Yountville, authorizes the department to construct a 
               second and additional homes and declares that the 
               second home is a new state function.


           


          This bill


              1.   Updates that definition to include the 
               Administrators of the Veterans' Home of California, 
               Chula Vista, the Veterans' Home of California, 
               Ventura, the Veterans' Home of California, Lancaster, 
               and the Veterans' Home of California, West Los 
               Angeles.


             2.   Updates that provision to declare that additionally 
               there are in the department a Veterans' Home of 
               California, Barstow, a Veterans' Home of California, 
               Chula Vista, a Veterans' Home of California, 
               Lancaster, a Veterans' Home of California, Ventura, 
               and a Veterans' Home of California, West Los Angeles. 


             3.   Declare that all homes are a new state function.

           

          Background

           In 1884 land in Yountville was given to the state to 
          establish a home for Civil War and other veterans.  This 
          was the extent of California's involvement in veterans' 
          homes for over a century.

          In the 1990s it was decided that a formal veteran's home 
          system should be created.  In 1996 a new veterans' home was 
          opened in Barstow followed by the Chula Vista Home in 2000.








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          Proposition 16 of 2000 sought to raise money for two homes 
          - one in Ventura and one in Lancaster.  It was later 
          decided the home system should ultimately be expanded to 
          eight homes.  Eventually, with the help of the Federal 
          Government, the two new southern California homes were made 
          part of the Greater Los Angeles and Ventura County project 
          (GLAVC) and a home in West Los Angeles was added at an 
          extreme cost of over $180 million or over four times the 
          cost of the Ventura and Lancaster homes put together.

          The end of 2009 saw the opening of the Ventura and 
          Lancaster GLAVC homes.  The third GLAVC home, Los Angeles, 
          was completed in 2010.
                                         

          Prior legislation

           
          SB 1002 (Wiggins)  of 2010 passed this committee 4-0, but 
          was placed on the inactive file when it reached the floor.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

          RM:rm  4/12/2011   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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