BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 287
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 8, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 287 (Frazier) - As Amended:  April 29, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              Veterans  
          AffairsVote: 10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs  
          (DVA) to annually compile and update a list of names of Vietnam  
          veterans to be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the  
          Capitol grounds. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires DVA to form a committee to review and consider  
            requests for including names on the memorial pursuant to  
            specified requirements. 

          2)Specifies the list shall contain the names of individuals not  
            included on the memorial at the time the list is compiled,  
            including those inadvertently left off of the memorial and the  
            names of veterans who died as a result of illness or injuries,  
            including physical or mental injuries documented by the  
            Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, or  
            licensed medical professionals, that can reasonably be assumed  
            to have resulted from military service in the Vietnam War.

          3)Specifies that names on the list may be added to the Memorial  
            if adequate private funding is available and there is  
            sufficient space on the Memorial to accommodate the names.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Minor GF costs to DVA to administer the names committee.

          2)Minor costs, covered by private sources, to add names to the  
            Memorial.

           COMMENTS  








                                                                  AB 287
                                                                  Page  2


           Rationale  . The author notes there are multiple reasons some  
          veterans were not included on the original memorial.  Some were  
          inadvertently left off the original list, while many died after  
          returning from service, as a direct result of injuries or  
          illness resulting from their service in the Vietnam War. 

          "The intent of the memorial is to honor and remember  
          California's Vietnam veterans who died as a result of their  
          injuries from the war or went missing during the war.  The bill  
          would further that purpose by making the memorial as complete as  
          possible so that  all  California Vietnam veterans are honored and  
          no one is ever forgotten."


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081