BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 555| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 555 Author: Salas (D) Amended: 4/30/13 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/11/13 AYES: Evans, Walters, Anderson, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/20/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Social security numbers SOURCE : California Association of County Veterans Service Officers DIGEST : This bill permits a state adult correctional facility, or an adult city or county jail, to release an inmate's social security number (SSN) for the purpose of determining the inmate's status as a military veteran and his/her eligibility for veterans' benefits. The release of an inmate's SSN will 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. ANALYSIS : Existing federal law permits incarcerated veterans and dependent family members to receive federal veteran's benefits under specified conditions. Existing law: CONTINUED AB 555 Page 2 1.Prohibits a person or entity from publicly posting or publicly displaying in any manner an individual's SSN, except as provided by law. "Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to intentionally communicate or otherwise make available to the general public. 2.Prohibits a person or entity from performing certain acts that may compromise the confidentiality of an individual's SSN, including: A. Printing an individual's SSN on any card required for the individual to access products or services provided by the person or entity; B. Requiring an individual to transmit his/her SSN over the Internet, unless the connection is secure or the SSN is encrypted; C. Requiring an individual to use his/her SSN 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 D. Printing an individual's SSN on any materials that are mailed to the individual, unless state or federal law requires the SSN to be on the document to be mailed. 1.Does not prevent the 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 purposes, and does not apply to documents that are recorded or required to be open to the public as specified. 2.Directs the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) 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. 3.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 CONTINUED AB 555 Page 3 state law, and to perform any other veteran related services as requested by the county board of supervisors. This bill permits a state adult correctional facility, or an adult city or county jail, to release an inmate's SSN, with the inmate's consent and upon request by the county veterans service officer or the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for the purpose of determining the inmate's status as a military veteran and his/her eligibility for federal, state, or local veterans' benefits or services. Background According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, "on any given day, veterans account for nine of every hundred individuals in U.S. jails and prisons. 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. Among state prisoners, approximately 10% reported prior service in the Armed Forces, and of those prisoners, six out of ten had received an honorable discharge from the service. "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. 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 CONTINUED AB 555 Page 4 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 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 SSN 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 SSN "for internal verification or administrative purposes," (Civ. Code Sec. 1798.85(b)), but do not provide a similar explicit exemption for "external verification," such as sharing a SSN between agencies to ascertain benefits eligibility. Prior Legislation AB 2490 (Butler, Chapter 407, Statutes of 2012) required CDCR 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 CDCR 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. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/12/13) CONTINUED AB 555 Page 5 California Association of County Veterans Service Officers (source) 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 ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author: 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 SSN, externally, to a county veterans' service officer or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill seeks to expressly authorize a sheriff to disclose an inmate's SSN to a County Veteran Service Officer upon request, and with the inmate's consent. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/20/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, CONTINUED AB 555 Page 6 Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Logue, Vacancy, Vacancy AL:ej 6/12/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED