BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 1268 (J. Perez) - Unemployment Insurance: Veterans Workforce
Development and Employment Office
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: L&IR 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 30, 2013
Consultant: Robert Ingenito
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: AB 1268 would establish the Veterans Workforce
Development and Employment Office (Office) within the Labor and
Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) to coordinate state
veterans' workforce and development and employment services.
Fiscal Impact: LWDA would incur one-time costs, likely in the
low hundreds of thousands of dollars (special funds), to
implement the provisions of the bill. LWDA would be required to
establish and organize the Office and relocate affected programs
from the Employment Development Department (EDD). Ongoing costs
to LWDA would be about $200,000 (special funds) to interact and
coordinate with other state agencies that provide veterans
services. EDD could incur some one-time transition costs as
well.
Background: The California Research Bureau indicates that
California has approximately 1.9 million veterans, which
accounts for roughly eight percent of the total nationwide.
Nearly three-fourths of the State's veterans are over 50 years
of age. The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA)
anticipates receiving an additional 35,000-40,000 discharged
members of the armed services annually for the next several
years - more than any other state. CDVA indicates that
historically, the largest demand for benefits and services for
veterans occurs immediately after discharge and again as the
veteran population ages and requires greater access to medical
facilities and long-term care services.
EDD assists veterans and their eligible spouses maximize their
employment and training opportunities through individualized
case managed services. EDD veterans' representatives specialize
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in assisting veterans in their efforts to return to work and are
located in many local EDD offices. Services provided include a
veteran 24-hour priority hold on all job listings, customized
job search assistance, job fairs, employer recruitments, and
other events and resources.
The Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists, also
known as the Veterans Employment Service Specialists, focus
their efforts on those economically or educationally
disadvantaged who can reasonably be expected to benefit from
improved employability as a result of receiving intensive
services within the One-Stop Career Center system.
The Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER) staff,
also known as the Veteran Workforce Specialist, conducts
outreach to employers, assist veterans in job development
contacts, conducting job search workshops, and establish job
search groups. They also facilitate employment, training, and
placement services to promote the hiring of veterans. The LVER
concentrates on individualized job development services for
veterans, especially those determined to be job ready after
receipt of intensive services by the DVOP specialists.
Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-9-11, creating the
California Interagency Council on Veterans, whose purpose is to
identify and prioritize the needs of California's veterans, and
to coordinate the activities at all levels of government in
addressing those needs.
Proposed Law: This bill would establish the Veterans Workforce
Development and Employment Office within the Labor and Workforce
Development Agency for the purpose of coordinating veterans'
workforce services. Specifically, this bill would do all of the
following:
Repeal statute governing veteran affairs service
coordination with EDD, as specified.
Require the Office to administer the programs and
services described in the federal Jobs for Veterans State
Grant Program, including, but not limited to, overseeing
the federal Local Veterans' Employment Representative
program (LVER) and the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program
(DVOP), as currently administered by EDD.
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Transfer the administration of LVER and DVOP
administrative and support staff to the Office. A plan for
the transition is due May 1, 2014.
Require the Office to coordinate with the Department of
Veterans Affairs and the Governor's Interagency Council on
Veterans. Further requires the Office to coordinate with
other state agencies that assist veterans to develop
research, a statewide plan, and strategies regarding
veterans' employment assistance and training programs
available in the state, as specified.
Require the Office to seek federal and other funding to
implement this measure and expresses legislative intent
that state-supported veterans employment training services
meet the same performance standards as those required under
the federal Workforce Investment Act, as specified.
Related Legislation: SB 723 would require EDD and the Department
of Consumer Affairs, on or before January 1, 2015, jointly to
present a report to the Legislature containing best practices by
state governments around the nation in facilitating the
credentialing of veterans by using their documented military
education and experience. SB 723 is currently pending in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: In March 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) released annually-updated unemployment data for
veterans (the monthly BLS labor report does not report this
information). The BLS reported that the national unemployment
rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed
Forces at any time since September 2001 veterans declined by 2.2
percentage points to 9.9 percent in 2012. The jobless rate for
all veterans fell by 1.3 percentage points to 7.0 percent. The
rate for nonveterans was 7.9 percent. Unemployment data for
California veterans specifically is not available because the
BLS sample size does not include sufficient California
households to produce statistically reliable results.
The bill would result in the transfer of approximately $19.3
million in annual Jobs for Veterans State Grant funds and
approximately 175 field staff paid through these funds from the
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EDD to the Office. Additionally, there are five EDD central
office staff that support the veterans' programs but are not
funded by the grant that could be transferred to the Office.
Currently, these positions account for approximately $550,000
annually. It is unclear where funding for these positions will
come from if they are transferred to the Office.