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