BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                       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:
           
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           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  

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            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  

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          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)


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          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,  

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            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

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