BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
AB 555 (Salas)
As Amended April 30, 2013
Hearing Date: June 11, 2013
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
TH
SUBJECT
Social Security Numbers
DESCRIPTION
Under existing law, governmental agencies and their employees
are prohibited from publicly posting or displaying an
individual's social security number or acting in a manner that
might compromise its confidentiality. This bill would permit a
state adult correctional facility, or an adult city or county
jail, to release an inmate's social security number for the
purpose of determining the inmate's status as a military veteran
and his or her eligibility for veterans' benefits. The release
of an inmate's social security number under this bill would only
occur with the inmate's consent, and only upon request by a
county Veterans Service Officer or by the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
BACKGROUND
According to the U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services
Administration, "on any given day, veterans account for nine of
every hundred individuals in U.S. jails and prisons." (Veterans
in Contact with the Justice System
[as of June 5, 2013].) In 2004, the
year for which most recent data is available, an estimated
140,000 veterans were being held in prison in the U.S., and
127,500 of these veterans were incarcerated in state prisons.
(Bureau of Justice Statistics, Veterans in State and Federal
Prison, 2004 [as
of June 5, 2013].) Among state prisoners, approximately ten
(more)
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percent reported prior service in the Armed Forces, and of those
prisoners, six out of ten had received an honorable discharge
from the service. (Id.)
"Taken as a whole, veterans are not overrepresented in the
justice system as compared to their proportion in the United
States general adult population," but they tend to face higher
barriers than non-veteran ex-offenders when re-entering society.
(Veterans in Contact with the Justice System.) Of those housed
in jails, one out of five was experiencing long-term
homelessness prior to incarceration, and three out of four were
unemployed. (Id.) Among state prisoners, veterans were more
likely than non-veterans to have recently received mental health
services, including an overnight stay in a hospital, use of a
prescribed medication, or treatment by a mental health
professional. (Veterans in State and Federal Prison, 2004.)
Both the State and Federal governments offer a range of social
welfare programs for veterans, including those who are or have
been incarcerated. However, it appears that a number of
incarcerated veterans, particularly those in their twenties or
thirties, are not connected with existing veteran's benefits
programs, including healthcare services through the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs. (See Veterans in Contact with
the Justice System.) Many incarcerated veterans may simply be
unaware of the benefits available to them on account of their
military service, or the conditions of their incarceration may
make it too burdensome for these veterans to apply for and
receive benefits.
Since 1992, California's counties have had the authority to
appoint a county veterans service officer to investigate all
claims, applications, or requests for veterans benefits,
including those made by incarcerated veterans. More recently,
in 2012 the Legislature directed the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop policies
concerning the release of veterans who are inmates to assist
them in pursuing claims for or establish entitlement to
veteran's benefits. County veterans service officers and state
corrections personnel have reported difficulty in investigating
and establishing veteran's benefits claims due to restrictions
in communicating an inmate's social security number to relevant
benefit administrators, such as the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs. Existing provisions in the Civil Code explicitly allow
for the collection, use, or release of a social security number
"for internal verification or administrative purposes," (Civ.
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Code Sec. 1798.85(b)), but do not provide a similar explicit
exemption for "external verification," such as sharing a social
security number between agencies to ascertain benefits
eligibility. This bill would explicitly permit a state adult
correctional facility, or an adult city or county jail, to
release an inmate's social security number for the purpose of
determining the inmate's status as a military veteran and his or
her eligibility for veteran's benefits, only when the inmate
consents to such a release, and only upon request by a county
veterans service officer or the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law prohibits a person or entity from publicly posting
or publicly displaying in any manner an individual's social
security number, except as provided by law. "Publicly post" or
"publicly display" means to intentionally communicate or
otherwise make available to the general public. (Civ. Code Sec.
1798.85(a)(1).)
Existing law prohibits a person or entity from performing
certain acts that may compromise the confidentiality of an
individual's social security number, including:
printing an individual's social security number on any
card required for the individual to access products or
services provided by the person or entity;
requiring an individual to transmit his or her social
security number over the Internet, unless the connection is
secure or the social security number is encrypted;
requiring an individual to use his or her social
security number to access an Internet Web site, unless a
password or unique personal identification number or other
authentication device is also required to access the
Internet Web site; and
printing an individual's social security number on any
materials that are mailed to the individual, unless state
or federal law requires the social security number to be on
the document to be mailed. (Civ. Code Secs.
1798.85(a)(2)-(5).)
Existing law does not prevent the collection, use, or release of
a social security number as required by state or federal law or
the use of a social security number for internal verification or
administrative purposes, and does not apply to documents that
are recorded or required to be open to the public as specified.
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(Civ. Code Sec. 1798.85(c).)
Existing law directs the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to develop guidance policies relative to the
release of veterans who are inmates, with the intent to assist
veterans who are inmates in pursuing claims for federal
veteran's 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. (Mil. & Vet. Code Sec. 1840.)
Existing federal law permits incarcerated veterans and dependent
family members to receive federal veteran's benefits under
specified conditions. (38 U.S. Code Sec. 5313.)
Existing law permits the board of supervisors of each county to
appoint a county veterans service officer, who shall 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. (Mil. & Vet. Code
Sec. 970.)
This bill would permit a state adult correctional facility, or
an adult city or 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
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 or
services.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
The author writes:
Existing law generally prohibits a person or entity from
publicly posting, displaying, mailing, or otherwise
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intentionally communicating an individual's [social
security number (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" [citation omitted]. 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 SSN, externally, to a county
veterans' service officer or the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
This bill seeks to expressly authorize a Sherriff to
disclose an inmate's social security [number] to a County
Veteran Service Officer upon request, and with the inmate's
consent.
2. Need to connect veterans with benefits
As noted above, available data indicates that a large number of
incarcerated veterans are not receiving veterans benefits to
which they are entitled. Many of the social welfare benefit
programs available to veterans, including medical services from
the Department of Veterans Affairs, would materially aid
incarcerated veterans overcome the high barriers that often
hinder their successful re-entry into society. Establishing
benefits eligibility prior to release would enable incarcerated
veterans to more easily transition back into society at the end
of their incarceration, and could help address or alleviate
individual problems that might otherwise lead to recidivism.
Further, while some federal veteran's benefits may be lost
during a period of incarceration, many benefits are still
available to the dependents of a veteran during a period of
incarceration, including those available to eligible spouses and
minor children. (See 38 U.S. Code Sec. 5313.) This bill would
make it easier for state and county correctional officers to
establish benefits entitlement for incarcerated individuals
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(and, by extension, dependent family members) by allowing them
to share an inmate's social security number with a benefits
administrator without fear of violating the Civil Code.
3. Protection of social security numbers
The growing crime of identity theft has increased consumer
concern about the privacy of personal and financial information
and the ease of unauthorized access to social security numbers.
Identity theft is often accomplished by stealing social security
numbers, which then are used to open bank accounts, gain credit,
and run up debts in the victim's name. In the past few years,
the Legislature has passed several measures that seek to reduce
the incidence of identity theft by ending the practice of using
social security numbers as identification or account numbers.
In 2001, the Legislature passed SB 168 (Bowen, Chapter 720,
Statutes of 2001), which prohibited persons or entities from
using social security numbers in a variety of ways, including
publicly posting or displaying social security numbers on such
things as cards used to access products or services, or
intentionally communicating social security numbers to the
general public. SB 168 enacted the restrictions on collecting,
using, or releasing social security numbers for reasons other
than "internal verification or administrative purposes" that
county veterans service officers have identified as impediments
to establishing eligibility for benefits for incarcerated
veterans.
The express aim of SB 168 is to ensure the confidentiality of an
individual's social security number by, among other things,
protecting it from public disclosure. This bill does not alter
that fundamental framework. To the contrary, it would authorize
the controlled release of a social security number only under
certain, limited conditions, and only to authorized governmental
employees. Specifically, this bill would permit the release of
an inmate's social security number only upon request by a county
veterans service officer or the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, only with the consent of the inmate, and only for the
limited purpose of determining the inmate's status as a military
veteran or eligibility for veteran's benefits and services. The
bill would not permit public disclosure of an inmate's social
security number, and the limitations contained within the bill
serve to ensure that confidentiality of the social security
number is not compromised.
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Support : American Legion - Department of California; AMVETS -
Department of California; California State Commanders Veterans
Council; Kings County Veterans Services; Office of the Sheriff
of Kings County; VFW - Department of California; Vietnam
Veterans of America - California State Council
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : California Association of County Veterans Service
Officers
Related Pending Legislation : SB 354 (Roth) would require the
Department of Veterans Affairs to develop outcome and related
indicators for veterans, for the purpose of assessing the status
of veterans in California, for monitoring the quality of
programs intended to serve those veterans, and to guide
decisionmaking on how to improve those services. This bill is
pending assignment in the Assembly Rules Committee.
Prior Legislation :
AB 2490 (Butler, Chapter 407, Statutes of 2012) requires the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop guidance
policies to assist veterans who are inmates in pursuing claims
for federal veteran's 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.
AB 2671 (Salas, 2008) would have required the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to create a prerelease program
for incarcerated honorably discharged veterans who are eligible
for federal and state benefits. This bill was vetoed by the
Governor.
SB 168 (Bowen, Chapter 720, Statutes of 2001) See Comment 3.
Prior Vote :
Assembly Rules Committee (Ayes 9, Noes 0)
Assembly Judiciary Committee (Ayes 10, Noes 0)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 75, Noes 0)
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