BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1453| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1453 Author: Quirk-Silva (D), et al. Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate Vote: 27 SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/24/14 AYES: Hueso, Knight, Correa, Lieu, Nielsen, Roth NO VOTE RECORDED: Block SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14 AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/29/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Southern California Veterans Cemetery SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), in voluntary cooperation with local government entities in Orange County, to design, develop, construct, and equip a state-owned and state-operated Southern California Veterans Cemetery and creates the Southern California Veterans Cemetery Master Development Fund (and an associated maintenance fund), and requires all monies received for the design, development, construction, and equipment of the cemetery to be deposited in this fund. This bill authorizes the cemetery administrator to accept donations of personal property to be used for the maintenance, beautification, or repair of the CONTINUED AB 1453 Page 2 cemetery and requires cash donations to be deposited into the Southern California Veterans Cemetery Donations Fund and requires CalVet to apply to the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a grant. Appropriations of $500,000 from the General Fund for preliminary design work and other start up costs. ANALYSIS : Federal law authorizes the VA to make a financial grant to any state for the purpose of establishing, expanding, or improving a veterans' cemetery owned by the state and operating and maintaining a veterans' cemetery. Existing state law: 1.Requires CalVet - in voluntary cooperation with the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, City of Seaside, Fort Ord Reuse Authority, and surrounding counties, cities, and local agencies - to design, develop, and construct the state-owned and state-operated Central Coast Veterans Cemetery, to be located on the former Fort Ord Army post. 2.Requires CalVet - in voluntary cooperation with the Shasta County Board of Supervisors and the boards of supervisors of specified northern California counties - to design, develop, and construct a state-owned and state-operated Northern California Veterans Cemetery (NCVC). This bill: 1.Creates the Southern California Veterans Cemetery Master Development Fund (Development Fund), and requires all monies received for the design, development, construction, and equipment of the cemetery to be deposited in this fund. 2.Creates the Southern California Veterans Cemetery Perpetual Maintenance Fund (Maintenance Fund) and directs all monies received for the maintenance of the cemetery, including those monies received for the interment of a spouse, child, or eligible dependent, to be deposited in this fund. 3.Makes proposals for the construction, placement, or donation of monuments and memorials to the cemetery subject to review by a specified advisory committee and subject to final approval by the CalVet Secretary. AB 1453 Page 3 4.Authorizes the cemetery administrator to accept donations of personal property to be used for the maintenance, beautification, or repair of the cemetery. Requires cash donations to be deposited into the Southern California Veterans Cemetery Donations Fund; and requires the cash donations to be expended for the maintenance, beautification, and repair of the cemetery, as specified. 5.Declares the Legislature's intent to appropriate funds in the annual Budget Act to fund annual cemetery operations and maintenance, and to enact subsequent legislation if necessary. Specifies that if no appropriation is made for these purposes, CalVet would not be required to comply with the provisions of this bill. 6.Requires CalVet to apply to the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program administered by the VA for a grant of not more than an unspecified amount, which amount represents 100% of the estimated cost for designing, developing, constructing, and equipping the cemetery. 7.Declares the Legislature's intent to prohibit the expenditure of money appropriated to CalVet until that department has received written approval of the grant requested and a commitment from the federal Grants Program that the funds appropriated under the grant are available for expenditure by the state, except as specified. 8.Extends eligibility for interment in the cemetery to all honorably discharged veterans and their spouses and children and eligible dependents to the extent provided by federal law and regulation. 9.Requires CalVet to establish a fee to be charged for interment of veteran spouses and children. 10.Specifies that the location of the cemetery is "at the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, on 125 acres known as the Amended and Restated Development Agreement Site in the Great Park in the City of Irvine." Background AB 1453 Page 4 National veterans cemeteries . The VA's National Cemetery Administration maintains 131 national veterans' cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico. Nine are located in California as follows: Southern California: Fort Rosecrans (San Diego), Miramar (San Diego), Los Angeles, and Riverside national cemeteries. Central California: Bakersfield, San Joaquin Valley (Santa Nella), Golden Gate (San Bruno), and San Francisco (Presidio of San Francisco) national cemeteries. Northern California: Sacramento Valley National Cemetery (Dixon). State veterans cemeteries . Recognizing that the national cemetery system leaves certain areas inadequately served, the federal government in 1978 established the federal VA's Cemetery Grants Program to help create state-owned and state-operated veterans cemeteries to meet that need. In a cost-saving approach, the federal government offers to build state cemeteries, but then let states pay the maintenance costs in perpetuity. This approach was used successfully with California's first state veterans cemetery, the NCVC near Redding dedicated in November 2005. The California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery (CCCVC) at the former Fort Ord - will be the second state cemetery under the federal Grants Program. [The state's historic Yountville Veterans Cemetery was funded by an earlier process. It is located on 11 acres in the northwest corner of the Yountville Veterans Home and currently accepts interments only from among the Veteran Home's residents and their eligible dependents.] Under the Grants Program, the federal government will reimburse up to 100% of the cost of establishing, expanding, or improving state veterans' cemeteries, including the acquisition of initial operating equipment, if the state agrees to cover the administrative and oversight costs. These administrative and oversight costs are offset eventually through federal veterans' burial benefits. The VA does not pay any off-site costs, land purchases, demolition costs, or state employee costs that may be charged by the Department of General Services. AB 1453 Page 5 The administrative, oversight and operational costs are offset by a federal plot allowance paid to the state for the burial of veterans by the VA and the dependent fees charged by the state. The percentage of those costs depends on the type of cemetery operation. The federal Plot Allowance is currently $734 and NCVC dependent fees are currently $500. Proposed state cemetery in Southern California . Considering federal guidelines and in conjunction with veteran stakeholder groups and local governments, CalVet has determined the need for a new state cemetery to serve the veteran population of Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. CalVet's analysis states the following: The burial rate must be determined and is the primary factor that will determine the size, type and cost of construction, as well as the operational costs of the Veterans Cemetery. We will consider the veterans population, veteran's death rate, and distance from cities to the proposed location of the cemetery and of existing active veteran's cemeteries. Riverside National Cemetery is the closest National Cemetery to Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, which is the area that the proposed Veterans Cemetery would serve. However, the locations of Bakersfield National Cemetery to the north and Miramar National Cemetery to the south were considered. The National Cemetery Administration uses a 75-mile radius to determine if a veteran is being served by an existing Veterans Cemetery. The flaw in their logic in determining if a veteran is being served within a 75-mile radius is that they do not consider natural barriers, location of roadways, traffic and public transportation, which are proven barriers in the actual use by veterans of veterans cemeteries. Much of the area that our proposed veteran's cemetery would serve is inside the 75-mile radius of Riverside National Cemetery, but this fact will not prevent the state from obtaining a federal grant to construct a state veterans cemetery. However, it must be considered when determining our facilities burial rate. For this reason we have not considered the veterans population in Riverside or San Bernardino Counties that may be closer to our proposed location. We are considering the entire veteran population AB 1453 Page 6 of Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties as those veterans would reside closer to our proposed location than to the Riverside National Cemetery. The National Cemetery Administration inters 13.5% of the eligible veterans in their catchment areas (75-mile radius) nationwide. The NCVC inters 27% of the eligible veterans within a 75-mile radius of the cemetery. When determining the burial rate for the CCCVC, CalVet and the VA agreed on a 25% interment rate based on our experience at NCVC. Understanding that there are so many unmeasurable factors in determining the percentage this is not a science, but an estimation of the actual number of veterans that will be interred in our proposed Veterans Cemetery. Casket and Cremated Interments at the Proposed Veterans Cemetery . VA Burial Rate Percentage - 13.5% = 2,124 veteran burials per year, including dependent burials = 2,974 NCVC Burial Rate Percentage - 27% = 4,247 veteran burials per year, including dependent burials = 5,746 CCCVC proposed Rate Percentage - 25% = 3,933 veterans burials per year, including dependent burials = 5,506 Dependent burials are not considered in the above figures and the VA and CalVet agree that it averages an additional 40% to the total of veterans interred in veterans' cemeteries. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Start-up costs of approximately $2 million ($500,000 appropriation), potentially reimbursed upon approval of federal grant (General Fund). Approximately $500,000 annually for annual maintenance upon AB 1453 Page 7 completion of the cemetery partially offset by interment fees (General Fund). One-time costs of approximately $75,000 for regulations (General Fund). SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14) American GI Forum of the United States - Rudy Escalante Chapter American Legion - 29th District American Legion - Department of California American Legion Post #277 American Legion Riders Department of California AMVETS - Department of California California Association of County Veteran Service Officers California Senior Legislature California State Commanders Veterans Council Cities of Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Placentia, Santa Ana, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park and Westminster Coast Community College District Board of Trustees Disabled American Veterans - Department of California Fullerton College IBEW - Local 47 IBEW - Local 441 Laguna Woods Democratic Club North Orange County Community College District Orange County Board of Supervisors Orange County Cemetery District Orange County Employees Association Orange County Veteran Employment Committee Public Law Center Republic of Korea Marine Corps Association of Orange County Santa Ana LULAC - Council 147 Santa Ana Unified School District Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of California Veterans of Foreign Wars - Post 3670 Vietnam Veterans of American - California State Council AB 1453 Page 8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/29/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Gordon, Vacancy AL:e 8/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****