BILL NUMBER: SB 296	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Correa

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2013

   An act to add Section 972.3 to the Military and Veterans Code,
relating to county veterans service officers, and making an
appropriation therefor.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 296, as introduced, Correa. County veterans service officers.
   Existing law requires funds to be disbursed each fiscal year on a
pro rata basis to counties that have established and maintained a
county veterans service officer in accordance with the staffing level
and workload of each county veterans service officer, under a
specified formula.
   This bill would appropriate the sum of $5,000,000 from the General
Fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the disbursement to
counties to fund the activities of county veterans service officers,
as specified.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The recent conflicts in the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan
are creating an entirely new generation of veterans who may be
eligible for federal veterans benefits because of their war service
and their physical and mental condition. California service members
make up to 10 percent of the military forces used in these conflicts.

   (b) The California National Guard and California-based reserve
units have contributed significantly to these current conflicts.
   (c) Many of these returning California veterans are not aware of
the federal and state benefits that are available to them.
   (d) Additionally, it is estimated that in California there may be
over two million veterans and their widows or widowers, who are
unaware that they may be eligible for pensions from the federal
government based upon their past military service in World War II,
Korea, Vietnam, or the Gulf War.
   (e) California's county veterans service officers (CVSO's) are the
initial local point of contact for claimants accessing the United
States Department of Veterans Affairs.
   (f) The costs of maintaining CVSO's are shared from county general
funds and state reimbursement to the counties. In 1997, in order to
track performance, the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 608,
which required the Department of Veterans Affairs to annually report
the amount of monetary benefits paid to veterans by the federal
government that were attributable to the assistance of CVSO's. Senate
Bill 608 of the 1997-98 Regular Session requires the Department of
Finance to consider an increase in the annual budget for CVSO's of up
$5,000,000, if approved in the yearly budget process. In 2009, the
Governor signed Senate Bill 419 into law, which raised this amount to
$11,000,000, if approved in the yearly budget process.
   (g) As a result of this annual reporting, by the end of 2011 it
had been determined that from 1995 to 2011, the state had
cumulatively budgeted $36.2 million for its share of the cost of the
CVSO's. As a result of this investment, CVSO's were able to assist
local veterans in obtaining $3.3 billion in new federal moneys. This
is a return of about $91 for every dollar the state allocates to CVSO'
s. Furthermore, $3.6 billion only reflects the actual monetary
benefits qualified for in a given year. The monetary benefits
qualified for in prior years are not tracked, yet the veterans and
their dependents may continue to receive those benefits for the rest
of their life. Added to this stellar return on the state's
investment, but not counted in the annual reporting are the Medi-Cal
cost avoidance savings incurred as a result of CVSO's qualifying and
shifting veterans away from Medi-Cal and onto the appropriate federal
veterans program.
   (h) CVSO's had accomplished all of this without ever reaching the
allowable state budget allocation of $5 million, set in 1997, or the
updated allowable allocation set in 2009. To date, the CVSO's have
not received more than $2.6 million per year from the state.
   (i) It is critical that the CVSO's receive an increase in this
allocation because there continues to be a large number of
underserved veterans and their dependents who are not aware of the
federal benefits available to them as a result of their military
service. Studies from other states have shown that increases in CVSO'
s have resulted in larger amounts of federal moneys to the veterans.
These new federal moneys and benefits are paid directly from the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs to the qualifying
veteran or their dependent and are used in the local economy.
  SEC. 2.  Section 972.3 is added to the Military and Veterans Code,
to read:
   972.3.  Notwithstanding any other law, the sum of five million
dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to
the Department of Veterans Affairs for the disbursement to counties
in accordance with the existing procedures established under Section
972.1.