BILL NUMBER: AB 585	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 6, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fox

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

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


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 585, as amended, Fox.  Homeless veterans' assistance
pilot program.  Department of Veterans Affairs: use of
real property. 
   Under existing law, the Department of Veterans Affairs has
specified powers and duties relating to various programs serving
 veterans, including establishing housing projects. Existing
law requires the department to include specified information in its
strategic plan related to homeless  veterans.  The
department constitutes a public corporation that is authorized to
hold property on behalf of the state. 
   This bill would  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.   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. 
   Vote:  2/3   majority  . Appropriation:
 yes   no  . Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 713 is added to the  
Military and Veterans Code   , to read:  
   713.  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.  
  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.