BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 555 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 555 (Salas) As Amended April 30, 2013 Majority vote JUDICIARY 10-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, | | | | |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, | | | | |Garcia, Gorell, | | | | |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, | | | | |Stone | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Permits an adult correctional facility, an adult city jail, or an adult county jail to release an inmate's social security number, with the inmate's consent and upon request by the county veterans service officer or the United States (U.S.) Department of Veterans Affairs, for the purpose of determining the inmate's status as a military veteran and his or her eligibility for federal, state, or local veterans' benefits of services. EXISTING LAW : 1)Prohibits a person or entity from publicly posting or publicly displaying a person's social security number (SSN). Defines "publicly post" or "publicly display" to mean intentionally communicating or otherwise making available to the general public. 2)Prohibits a person or entity from doing certain things that might compromise an individual's SSN, including printing a SSN on any card required to access goods or services; requiring a person to transmit a SSN over the Internet without a secure connection or encryption; requiring a person to use his or her SSN to access an Internet Web site, except as specified; or printing an individual's SSN on any materials that are mailed to the individual, unless the SSN is required to be on the mailed document by state or federal law. 3)Specifies that the above provisions do not prevent the AB 555 Page 2 collection, use, or release of a SSN as required by state or federal law, or the use of a SSN for internal verification or administrative purpose, and also that the above provisions do not apply to documents that are required to be open to the public pursuant to the Public Records Act. 4)Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop guidance policies relative to the release of veterans who are inmates, including policies designed to assist veterans who are inmates in pursuing claims for federal veterans' benefits, or in establishing rights to any other privilege, preference, care, or compensation provided under federal or state law because of honorable service in the military. In developing the policies, the department may coordinate with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the county veterans' service officer or veterans' service organizations. 5)Authorizes the board of supervisors of each county to appoint a county veterans' service officer to administer any veterans' aid or programs provided by the state, to investigate all claims, applications, or requests for aid made pursuant to state law, and to perform any other veteran related services as requested by the county board of supervisors. FISCAL EFFECT : None COMMENTS : Existing law generally prohibits a person or entity from publicly posting, displaying, mailing, or otherwise intentionally communicating an individual's SSN to the general public. Other state laws require redacting the SSN, or some portion thereof, from public records. Existing law also creates a number of reasonable exemptions to these general prohibitions, including when the SSN is needed for certain administrative purposes or when the SSN is required to be on a mailed form as a matter of state or federal law. Of particular relevance to this bill, existing law also permits the use of the SSN "for internal verification or administrative purposes." At first blush a broad reading of this language might appear to authorize the release of the SSN for the purpose of verifying an inmate's status as a military veteran; however, this existing language only authorizes the use of the SSN for purposes of "internal" verification and administration. Thus it does not appear under existing law that a prison or jail could release or disclose a AB 555 Page 3 SSN, externally, to a county veterans' service officer or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill would expressly authorize a state adult correctional facility, or an adult city or county jail, to release an inmate's SSN, with the inmate's consent, to a county veterans service officer or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the limited purpose of determining an inmate's military veteran status and his or her eligibility for federal, state, or local veterans' benefits or services. Existing state law authorizes each county to appoint a "county veterans service officer" to administer any state benefits or service programs for veterans, and allocates operational funds to any county that appoints an officer. In addition, existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop policies to assist inmates who are veterans in obtaining any government benefits, services, or rights to which they are entitled by virtue of having served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces. In developing these policies, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is authorized to work cooperatively with the county veterans' service officer and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill seems fully consistent with those existing law provisions. It appropriately limits the release of the SSN where the inmate has consented to the release and where a request has been made by either the designated county veterans services officer or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the limited purpose of determining the inmate's status as a veteran and his or her eligibility for veterans' benefits or services. Finally, it should be noted that this bill does not provide inmates or veterans with any new benefits or services; it is simply intended to help identify veterans who are incarcerated so that they may obtain any benefits that their military service has already bestowed upon them. Several veterans' organization, including state chapters of the American Legion, VFW, AMVETS, and the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers, support this bill because it will "make it easier for inmates, that are military veterans, who are incarcerated in California to be identified and to receive the veterans' benefits and services for which they are already entitled." AB 555 Page 4 Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0000390