Amended in Assembly January 6, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 585

Introduced by Assembly Member Fox

February 20, 2013

An act to add begin delete and repeal end delete Section 713 begin delete of end delete begin insert to end insert the Military and Veterans Code, relating to begin delete veterans, and making an appropriation therefor end delete begin insert veterans end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 585, as amended, Fox. begin delete Homeless veterans’ assistance pilot program. end delete begin insert Department of Veterans Affairs: use of real property. end insert

Under existing law, the Department of Veterans Affairs has specified powers and duties relating to various programs serving begin delete veterans, including establishing housing projects. Existing law requires the department to include specified information in its strategic plan related to homeless end delete veterans. begin insert The department constitutes a public corporation that is authorized to hold property on behalf of the state. end insert

This bill would begin delete establish, until January 1, 2018, the Homeless Veterans’ Housing Assistance Pilot Program, in up to 4 counties that agree to participate. The bill would provide that the pilot program would be administered at the state level by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, and would prescribe the department’s responsibilities in this regard. This bill would require the department to provide $100,000 to each county for purposes of the pilot program, from which the county would provide a monthly stipend of $500 to eligible homeless veterans. The bill would appropriate $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the Homeless Veterans’ Housing Assistance Fund, which the bill would create, for purposes of the pilot program. end delete begin insert require the department, by January 1, 2015, to develop a master plan for the use of unused or underutilized real property owned by the department, for purposes that will benefit California veterans, as specified, and to make a preferred recommendation for use of the property. end insert

Vote:  begin delete ²⁄₃ end delete begin insert majority end insert . Appropriation:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 713 is added to the end insert begin insert Military and Veterans
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 713. end insert   

By January 1, 2015, the department shall develop a master
plan for the use of unused or underutilized real property owned
by the department, including property on or near the premises of
existing department facilities, for purposes that will benefit
California veterans. The plan shall include an evaluation of use
options, and make a preferred recommendation for use of the
property, including, but not limited to, the following services for
veterans:

(a) Housing.

(b) Supportive services.

(c) Health care and mental health care.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 713 is added to the Military and Veterans
Code, to read:

713.  

(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Homeless Veterans’ Housing Assistance Pilot Program.

(b) The department in consultation with the Department of
Housing and Community Development, shall establish a four-year
pilot program in up to four counties, to provide assistance to
homeless veterans as provided in this section. Under the program,
each county that agrees to participate in the program shall provide
a monthly housing stipend of five hundred dollars ($500) to eligible
veterans identified by the county.

(c) The department shall serve as the lead agency for the pilot
program. The department’s responsibilities shall include, but shall
not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Development of criteria for the selection of the pilot program
counties.

(2) Selection of the pilot program counties to participate in the
pilot program.

(3) Providing, or arranging for, technical assistance to
participating counties.

(4) Development of specific performance outcome measures
by which the program can be evaluated.

(d) (1)The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the Homeless Veterans’
Housing Assistance Fund, which is hereby created, to implement
the pilot program created by this section. Moneys in the fund shall
be allocated by the department as provided in paragraph (2).

(2) Of the funds appropriated pursuant to this section, one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) shall be allocated to each
participating county for the purposes of providing the housing
stipend described in subdivision (b).

(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed.

end delete