BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 75
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Jacqui Irwin, Chair
AB 75
(Mathis) - As Amended April 13, 2015
SUBJECT: Veterans
SUMMARY: Appropriates $3,000,000 to the Department of Veterans
Affairs (CalVet) for the purpose of funding certain Veteran
Claims Representative positions. Specifically, this bill:
1)Continuously appropriates the sum of three million dollars
($3,000,000) to CalVet for the purpose of permanently funding
36 full-time equivalent Veterans Claims Representative
positions in the CalVet Veteran Services Division.
2)Directs that these 36 Veterans Claims Representatives shall
have oversight by CalVet, and ensure the quality and
timeliness of claims filed through the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) on behalf of California
veterans and their families.
EXISTING LAW: The Budget Act of 2014, appropriates $3,000,000
to CalVet for the purpose of assisting the USDVA in processing
veterans' claims.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown, although this bill does make an
appropriation of $3,000,000.
COMMENTS: According to the Author:
[CalVet] works to serve California veterans and their
families. With nearly 2 million veterans living in the State,
CalVet strives to ensure that its veterans of every era and
their families get the state and federal benefits and services
they have earned and deserve as a result of selfless and
honorable military service. CalVet strives to serve veterans
and their families with dignity and compassion and to help
them achieve their highest quality of life
In 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown's budget authorized
$3 million and 36 limited-term positions that allowed CalVet
to coordinate with the federal VA to assist in reducing its
massive veterans' claims backlog.
The funds appropriated were used to hire a "Strike Force"
team of 12 Veterans Claims Representatives (VCR) for each of
VA's regional offices in San Diego, Los Angeles and Oakland to
focus on backlogged claims, ensuring they are properly
developed and have all necessary documentation needed for
adjudication.
At the time the Strike Teams were initially deployed in the
Fall of 2013, the national average wait-time for benefits from
the federal government was 349.6 days. Meaning the average
veteran waited nearly a year before receiving benefits that
are considered a right. The average wait times in Los Angeles
and Oakland were significantly worse than the national
average, at 619.4 days and 617.8 days, respectively.
As of January 29, 2015, CalVet Strike Team claims review
efforts in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Oakland have reviewed
44,921 claims, resulting in lump sum payments to California
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veterans totaling $45,603,451, monthly award payments totally
$5,878,940, and an annualized monthly awards payment total of
$70,547,276 going to California veterans every year for the
rest of their lives.
While the Strike Teams have done remarkable work, the mission
is not complete as the federal VA is still not on pace to
fully eliminate their claims backlog by the end of next year,
a goal long promised by department officials.
California veterans have served their country and their
communities with honor and distinction, and deserve the
benefits which have been promised to them.
CalVet issues monthly Joint Claims Initiative Reports (Report).
The Reports include status updates on the work of the Strike
Teams. The March 26, 2015 Report confirms the success of the
Strike Teams which is noted by the author. The Report states
that the Strike Teams will continue to be needed for an extended
time:
The USDVA's claims inventory continues to grow on an annual
basis: In 2013, the USDVA surpassed 1M claims filed for the
first time in history. In 2014, they surpassed 1.3M, and in
2015 they are expected to exceed previous record again. Keep
in mind claims are much more complicated and time consuming to
adjudicate than they were as recent as 2010; therefore, County
Veterans Service Office Veteran Service Representatives who
submit claims must be more astute in the development.
Oversight by CalVet must also be more prudent to ensure
claims, which are now averaging 12-15 issues per claim opposed
to 4-7 just a few years ago.
If, as noted, it is too early to declare "mission accomplished,"
then the original rationale for funding the Strike teams still
applies and a further round of funding is merited.
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Furthermore, the Strike Team positions are limited in term, and
the end of that term is approaching. It is only natural that
staff in these positions might begin to look elsewhere. This
situation poses a problem for the continued success of the
Strike Teams. In fact, CalVet says:
CalVet currently faces significant challenges with retaining
the highly skilled and trained staff because of the limited
term status of the 36 positions.
?
Attrition is a significant challenge and issue with the
current 3-year program. Although the program is approved
through June 30, 2016, the well-trained and highly skilled
staff are now seeking permanent employment with the USDVA and
other VSOs because their employment with the State will end in
June 2016. Starting in October 2014 and continuing into 2015,
CalVet has lost eight Veterans Claims Representatives on the
Strike Teams, which they have been unable to replace. Moving
into the third year of this current program, recruiting
qualified personnel for a less-than-one-year limited term
position will pose an even larger task.
Another round of funding should reduce, but not eliminate,
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further attrition due to the limited term of the program by
pushing the program horizon date out farther.
Policy question for members : Should the Legislature consider a
longer term funding solution for these positions?
Periodic limited-term funding for the Veterans Claims
Representatives retains maximum control in the Legislature and
builds-in an automatic mechanism to reevaluate the necessity for
the expenditure.
However, it also means that the program is always temporary.
Being temporary creates uncertainty, the staffing issues noted
above, and a lack of ability to make long term plans, etc.
Given that California has more veterans than any other state,
there is still a huge volume of claims, and that these Claims
Representatives have received absolutely unique training and
experience working within the USDVA offices, should the
Legislature consider a longer term funding solution for these
positions?
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Disabled Veteran Business Alliance
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:John Spangler / V.A. / (916) 319-3550