BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    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





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          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.







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          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
           







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           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.








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          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  







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              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  







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            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 









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           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

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