BILL NUMBER: AB 2664 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 29, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Quirk-Silva
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 412.5 of the Military and Veterans Code,
relating to the California National Guard.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2664, Quirk-Silva. California National Guard.
Existing law authorizes the Adjutant General and the Military
Department to solicit and accept funds or other donations for deposit
in the California Military Department Support Fund. Money in the
fund is available, upon appropriation, for specified purposes
relating to the programs of the department.
Former law, repealed by its own provisions, allowed taxpayers to
designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of
their tax liability be transferred to the California Military Family
Relief Fund, established to accept contributions from taxpayers and
from other sources. Money in the California Military Family Relief
Fund, upon appropriation, was required to be allocated to the
department to provide financial aid grants to eligible members of the
California National Guard. The former law provided that,
notwithstanding repeal, any contribution amounts designated prior to
repeal were to continue to be transferred and disbursed in accordance
with those repealed provisions.
This bill would establish the California National Guard Military
Family Relief Fund as an account within the California Military
Department Support Fund for the purpose of providing financial aid
grants to eligible members of the California National Guard who are
California residents and who have been called to active duty. The
bill would require the department to establish eligibility criteria
for the grants by January 1, 2015.
The bill would transfer any and all moneys remaining in the
California Military Family Relief Fund to the California Military
Department Support Fund and would require those moneys to continue to
be disbursed in accordance with the original intent of the
contributions made by taxpayers to the California Military Family
Relief Fund as established under former law.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 412.5 of the Military and Veterans Code is
amended to read:
412.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Adjutant General
may do all of the following:
(1) Establish support programs, including, but not limited to,
morale, welfare, recreational, training, and educational programs for
the benefit of the Military Department, its components, and its
soldiers, airmen, cadets, and their family members.
(2) Establish, construct, or acquire facilities or equipment for
the purposes specified in paragraph (1).
(3) Adopt rules and regulations for all of the following:
(A) For the programs established pursuant to paragraph (1).
(B) For the solicitation and acceptance of funds authorized
pursuant to subdivision (b).
(C) For the establishment, deposit, and expenditure of military
post, welfare, or similar unit funds.
(4) Perform any other acts as may be necessary, desirable, or
proper to carry out the purposes of this section.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the Adjutant General and
the Military Department may solicit and accept funds or other
donations which shall be deposited in the California Military
Department Support Fund, which is hereby established in the State
Treasury. The money in the fund is available, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, solely for the purposes prescribed by this section.
(2) Section 11005 of the Government Code shall not apply to the
acceptance of funds or other donations pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that funds appropriated to
the Military Department as provided by this section be used to
supplement, not supplant, funding appropriated to the Military
Department pursuant to any other law for the purposes prescribed by
this section.
(c) (1) The California Military Department Support Fund shall
include the California National Guard Military Family Relief Fund, a
special fund as established within the California Military Department
Support Fund by subdivision (d).
(2) For accounting and recordkeeping purposes, the California
Military Department Support Fund shall be deemed to be a single
special fund, and any special funds therein shall constitute and be
deemed to be a separate account in the California Military Department
Support Fund. Each account or fund shall be available for
expenditure only for the purposes as are now or may hereafter be
provided by law.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of former Section 18709 of
the Revenue and Taxation Code as added by Chapter 546 of the
Statutes of 2004, the California National Guard Military Family
Relief Fund is hereby established as an account within the California
Military Department Support Fund for the purpose of providing
financial aid grants to members of the California National Guard who
are California residents and who have been called to active duty.
(2) The Military Department shall establish eligibility criteria
for the grants by January 1, 2015. The criteria shall include, but
not be limited to, a demonstration of financial need.
(3) In addition to criteria established by the Military Department
pursuant to paragraph (2), members of the California National Guard
shall show proof of all of the following to be eligible to receive a
grant pursuant to subdivision (d):
(A) Current membership in the California National Guard.
(B) Residency in California.
(C) Deployment to active duty for at least 60 consecutive days.
(4) Grants awarded pursuant to this subdivision may be used only
for food, housing, child care, utilities, medical services, medical
prescriptions, insurance, and vehicle payments.
(5) California National Guard members shall not be eligible to
receive a grant if the member receives a punitive discharge or an
administrative discharge with service characterized as under other
than honorable conditions.
(e) The Adjutant General, on or before March 31, 2014, and on or
before that date each year thereafter, shall conduct an internal
audit of the fund established in accordance with subdivisions (b) and
(c) and report the findings of the audit to the Department of
Finance.
SEC. 2. (a) On January 1, 2015, any and all moneys remaining in
the California Military Family Relief Fund established by Chapter 546
of the Statutes of 2004 are hereby transferred to, and become part
of, the California Military Department Support Fund, in accordance
with Section 412.5 of the Military and Veterans Code.
(b) The moneys transferred pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
continue to be disbursed in accordance with the original intent of
the contributions made by taxpayers to the California Military
Families Relief Fund established by Chapter 546 of the Statutes of
2004.