BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 409
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Al Muratsuchi, Chair
AB 409 (Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: April 15, 2013
SUBJECT : Student veterans: services
SUMMARY : Requires a study by the California State University
(CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC) pertaining to
student veterans. Specifically, this bill :
1)Directs the CSU and CCC to convene, on or before June 30,
2014, a task force to develop a report relating to student
veterans' transition to postsecondary education. Urges the
University of California to participate in the task force.
2)Requires the task force to address specific issues related to
student veterans' transition to postsecondary education, such
as:
a) A review of the best practices for meeting the needs of
student veterans and ensuring that all campuses offer
veterans' counseling services.
b) An evaluation on how California Community Colleges, the
California State University, and the University of
California currently assist student veterans in
understanding the effects of postwar stress, posttraumatic
stress disorder, and traumatic brain injuries.
c) An evaluation of the existing resources offered to
veterans and ways to ensure that veterans are aware of
these resources.
d) An assessment on whether additional services for
veterans are needed, such as an online course addressing
postwar effects on veterans.
3)Mandates that the final report must be completed on or before
January 10, 2015, submitted in accord with Government Code
section 9795, and that a copy shall be provided to the
Governor and the Legislature on or before that date.
4)Sets a sunset date of January 1, 2019.
AB 409
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CSU and the CCC and encourages the UC to
coordinate services for qualified students who are veterans or
members of the military by clearly designating Military and
Veterans Offices and individuals to provide specified services
to qualified students. Current law defines "qualified
student" as a student who is any of the following: an active
duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
California National Guard, a reserve component of the Armed
Forces of the Unites States, a veteran of the Armed Forces of
the United States, and/or a family member of a person (as
described above) who is a legal dependent under 28 years of
age or living in the household of that person and eligible to
be claimed as a dependent on federal or state tax returns
(Education Code [EC] § 69785).
2)Requests the UC, CSU, the CCC to report annually to the
California Department of Veterans Affairs the number of
qualified students assisted by a Military and Veterans Office;
the number of qualified students assisted who are active duty
members of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
California National Guard, or a reserve component of the Armed
Forces of the United States, or are veterans of the Armed
Forces of the United States; and the total education benefits
by all qualified students assisted by an office (EC § 69786).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown at this time.
COMMENTS : According to, "From Soldier to Student II: Assessing
Campus Programs for Veterans and Service Members" (American
Council on Education (ACE), et al.)
?The Post-9/11 GI Bill offers the 2 million service members
who have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts
generous support for educational expenses, and has prompted
a significant upturn in the number of veterans and military
personnel enrolling in higher education.
? As campuses continue to welcome these students, it is
important for administrators to not only reassess their
programs and services, but to ensure veterans and service
members have useful information about such programs to make
an informed decision about which institution is the best
AB 409
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for them.
Specifically, [Per Presidential Executive
Order-establishing principles of excellence for educational
institutions serving service members, veterans, spouses,
and other family members. (2012, April 27)] institutions
have an obligation to: "provide meaningful information to
service members, veterans, spouses, and other family
members about the financial cost and quality of educational
institutions to assist those prospective students in making
choices about how to use their Federal educational
benefits; prevent abusive and deceptive recruiting
practices that target the recipients of Federal military
and veterans educational benefits; and ensure that
educational institutions provide high-quality academic and
student support services to active-duty service members,
reservists, members of the National Guard, veterans, and
military families."
This bill proposes a California specific study. It aligns with
the Executive Order and it makes sense to take stock of how our
higher education institutions are doing in meeting the needs of
student veterans in the state which is home to more veterans
than any other state in the Nation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Teachers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550