BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
BILL NO: AB 585 HEARING DATE: 6/24/14
AUTHOR: Fox
VERSION: 1/21/14
FISCAL: YES
VOTE: 21
SUBJECT
Department of Veterans Affairs: use of real property.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law:
Provides for the establishment and funding of the
Veterans Home of California, which is to be operated by the
California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) at
several authorized campuses around the state.
Provides that CalVet constitutes a public corporation
authorized to hold property on behalf of the state.
This bill:
Requires CalVet to develop a master plan that:
Must be finalized by July 1, 2016.
Pertains to the use of unused or underutilized
non-residential real property owned by the Department.
Considers such property as part of an integrated system
in which the use of properties could be planned to
complement one another.
Makes preferred recommendations for use of the property
for purposes that will benefit California veterans,
including, but not limited to, housing, supportive
services, health care and mental health care.
Prioritizes projects, which are identified through the
master plan process.
BACKGROUND
CalVet's Veterans Homes Division provides rehabilitative,
residential medical care and services in a homelike environment
for all veterans (and eligible veteran spouses) residing in the
State's eight veterans homes (campuses), which are located in
Barstow, Chula Vista, Fresno, Lancaster. Redding, Ventura, West
Los Angeles, and Yountville. As of early 2013, more than 1,700
members resided in these veterans homes. CalVet is scheduled to
begin admitting veterans in October 2013 at two new veterans
homes located in Fresno and Redding. Some of the CalVet-owned
campuses are located on modestly sized real property footprints,
while others have larger physical footprints.
The eight campuses offer different combinations of the following
levels of care that generate different levels of cost:
Independent living/domiciliary care (Barstow, Chula
Vista, Yountville):
This level of care is for residents able to perform
activities of daily living with, at most, minimal
assistance. Non-nursing employees provide limited
supervision. Residents have access to all of the Home's
services, activities, and medical care. Individuals can
transfer to higher levels of care as needed. Independent
living is also referred to as Domiciliary by CalVet and
the USDVA.
Residential care/assisted living (All homes except
Barstow):
Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE) are
available for residents who require minimal assistance
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and supervision with some activities of daily living.
RCFE services may include care by licensed nurses. In the
future, memory care programs may be established within
the RCFEs.
Intermediate care (Barstow, Yountville):
This level is for residents who often require licensed
nursing assistance with medications and treatments, and
generally require unlicensed nursing assistance with
several daily living activities.
Skilled nursing care (Barstow, Chula Vista, Fresno,
Redding, West LA, Yountville):
This level provides 24-hour services of licensed nurses
and certified nursing assistants, and is more
comprehensive than intermediate care. Skilled nursing
residents have greater access to rehabilitation
therapies, nursing care, pharmacy management, structured
activities and clinical dietary services. May provide a
memory care program.
Underutilization of veterans home property
CalVet's 2012 strategic plan includes an objective to increase
utilization of the unused space at the veterans homes through
collaborative relationships with nonprofits, veteran service
organizations, and private entities.
In May 2013, the State Auditor released Report 2012-119, which
reviewed CalVet's management of the veterans home system and
included the following findings:
Statutory licensing requirements and state budget
allocations limit the number of beds available for veterans
which results in unused space at the homes. Legal
restrictions also may limit CalVet's ability to lease to or
to partner with other entities to utilize this unused
space.
CalVet has not monitored its only public-private
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partnership agreement - a non-profit agency uses space and
utilities at the Yountville veterans home at no charge in
exchange for providing mental health care services for
veterans - and thus, does not know how successful the
partnership is in serving more veterans.
Although it has agreements with other entities to
analyze long-term planning at the Yountville campus, CalVet
does not have a formalized process to identify
opportunities to utilize unused space at its other homes.
As a result of the audit, CalVet revised its Strategic Plan
(2013/14 - 2015/16) to include the following strategic goals:
Develop and implement procedures for periodically
evaluating all of the veterans homes to identify
opportunities to enhance its use of unused space and
increase revenue.
Create formal processes for systematically tracking and
utilizing unused space, as well as formalizing the
evaluation procedure and measures for potential
public-private partnerships, and writing procedures to
provide periodic measurements of their success.
Government Code §11011 requires each state agency, including
CalVet, to review annually all proprietary state lands - with
specified exceptions - over which it has jurisdiction. CalVet
must determine what, if any, land is in excess of its
foreseeable needs and report it in writing to the Department of
General Services. These lands shall include, but not be limited
to, the following:
Land not currently being utilized, or currently being
underutilized, by the state agency for any existing or
ongoing state program.
Land for which the state agency has not identified any
specific utilization relative to future programmatic needs.
Land not identified by the state agency within its
master plans for facility development.
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Questionable utilization of veterans home property
In October 2013, the State Auditor released Investigative Report
I2011-0837, pursuant to the California Whistleblower Protection
Act. The report concluded that the veterans Yountville home
administrator wasted $652,919 in statemanaged funds when she
entered into two contracts on behalf of the home.
The first contract was for the construction and operation of an
adventure park featuring seven zip lines on almost 200 acres of
state property. This contract cost the State $228,612 to
terminate after Veterans Affairs' top management learned about
it and halted construction. The second contract was for the
operation of a café and tavern at the home, which did not comply
with state contracting requirements and needlessly cost $424,307
over nearly a twoyear period. In addition to alleging that the
contracts did not comply with state contracting requirements,
the audit questions whether the zip lines and café/tavern
constituted a prudent use of the homes resources and served the
best interests of the residents of the home.
COMMENT
Author comments : "AB 585 ensures that veteran land owned by the
state become centers of veteran activity and support services by
requiring CalVet to develop a master plan for the use of unused
or underutilized land owned by the state department. CalVet
owns and operates eight veteran homes throughout the state. Some
of these homes, including but not limited to Yountville,
Lancaster and Ventura, have excess land that has the potential
for further development. Recently, the California State Auditor,
in an October 2013 report, "California Department of Veteran
Affairs: Wastefulness, Failure to Comply with State Contracting
Requirements, and Inexcusable Neglect of Duty," concluded that
one of the eight veteran homes operated by CalVet unlawfully
entered into two wasteful contracts. One of these unlawful
contracts involved a questionable use of limited state-owned
veteran property. AB 585 will ensure that the scarce real estate
property at CalVet's disposal to serve California veterans is
best utilized to become bustling hubs of veteran activity."
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Committee staff comments :
1.If CalVet currently does not have a master plan for managing
its property, what process does it use to comply with the
annual mandate under Govt Code § 11011?
2.Discussion on this bill has been focused on the state veterans
homes, but the measure's master plan language appears to
include also state veterans cemeteries and all other
CalVet-owned nonresidential property. Is that the author's
intent?
3.The term "master plan" typically is applied to broader
purposes. Should this bill's language be changed to refer to a
"plan?"
4.Does the master plan developed two years ago for the
Yountville home include the elements required by this bill? If
so, is it current for this bill's purposes? If so, should this
bill exempt Yountville from its requirements to avoid
duplication of effort and cost?
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support:
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officer
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Military Officers Association of America, California Council of
Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
Oppose: None on file
Analysis by: Wade Cooper Teasdale
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