BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 171|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 171
Author: Irwin (D), et al.
Amended: 8/31/15 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/23/15
AYES: Nielsen, Hueso, Allen, Nguyen, Roth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Department of Veterans Affairs: veterans services
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill modifies the formula by which the Department
of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) allocates state funds to county
veterans service officers (CVSOs), and adds reporting
requirements to help determine how effectively and efficiently
state funds are being spent.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides for CVSOs, who assist veterans in making claims for
benefits provided for by federal or state law, and who perform
other veteran-related services requested by the board of
supervisors.
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2)Provides that the compensation and expenses of the CVSO shall
be a county charge, but CalVet, out of state moneys made
available, shall pay each county a portion of those costs in
an amount determined by CalVet.
3)Provides for an annual state appropriation for the CVSOs as
determined in each year's Budget Act, currently funded at $5.6
million.
4)Requires CalVet to determine and report to the Department of
Finance (DOF):
a) The number of claims filed to achieve benefits such as
pension, disability compensation, and health care on behalf
of veterans and their dependents.
b) The annualized monetary value of benefits received by
veterans and their dependents as a result of the efforts of
CVSOs, broken down by type of benefit.
c) A summary of other services provided by CVSOs and
participation in outreach activities, such as homeless
veteran "Stand Downs," and job fairs.
1)Requires CalVet, on or before October 1 of each year, to
prepare and transmit its determination for the preceding
fiscal year to DOF and the Legislature.
2)Directs DOF to review CalVet's determination in time to use
the information in the annual Budget Act with regard to
CalVet's budget for the next fiscal year.
3)Provides that state subvention funds shall be disbursed each
fiscal year on a pro rata basis to counties that have
established and maintain a CVSO in accordance with the
staffing level and workload of each CVSO under a formula based
upon performance, as specified, developed by CalVet.
4)Repeals existing language:
a) That will be superseded by the new allocation formula
and reporting requirements.
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b) That offers legislative findings, declarations and
intent regarding CVSO funding levels.
This bill:
1)Requires CalVet, no later than July 1, 2016, to develop an
allocation formula based upon performance standards that
encourage innovation and reward outstanding service by CVSOs.
2)Requires that the moneys, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, be allocated each fiscal year among only those
counties that, in the discretion of the secretary, comply with
the following requirements:
a) Establish and maintain a CVSO.
b) Collect and report all information required by CalVet in
departmental regulations.
c) Comply with the training and accreditation standards for
CVSOs and veterans service representatives (VSRs) as may be
set by CalVet.
d) Require CVSOs and VSRs to become accredited with CalVet
for the purposing of providing representation services
before the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
(USDVA) within 18 months of being hired, or on or before
June 1, 2017, whichever is later.
e) Requires CalVet to report, annually to the Legislature,
the efficacy, return on investment, work volume, and
regional impact of the subvention funds on each county that
receives those funds.
f) Also requires CalVet to report, annually to the
Legislature by October 1:
i) The amount of new or increased monetary benefits
paid to eligible veterans by the federal government
attributable to CVSO assistance and the basis for that
determination.
ii) The amount paid to each county, including the
amounts paid to each county for each category of workload
unit, as defined, included in the allocation formula.
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iii) An evaluation as to each county's use of subvention
funds, including recommendations for improvement of each
county's use of subvention funds.
Background
County veterans service officers. CVSOs are trained, accredited
professionals, who work at the county level of government and
partner with CalVet. CVSOs may legally represent veterans in the
federal benefits claims process, and also help connect veterans
with state- and locally-provided benefits. VSRs are claims
workers who work under the supervision of CVSOs.
Collectively, the CVSOs, through claims initiation and
development, and CalVet, through claims development and
representation, provide assistance to veterans and their
dependents in preparing and submitting claims and in
representing claimants before the federal, state and local
agencies providing veterans benefits. CVSOs use the
CalVet-sponsored VetPro software program to enhance their claims
reporting and tracking.
California's utilization of veteran benefits. California's
utilization of the primary monetary veteran benefits, referred
to as compensation and pension, has historically lagged behind
that of the nation as a whole. Recently, however, California
has improved its utilization rates.
In 2007, CalVet recommended several strategies to address
benefit underutilization, including providing resources in
support of additional full time professional service
representative staff with a focus on areas with large veteran
populations and lower than average benefit participation rates.
The primary strategies are:
1)That subvention funding for CVSOs should be increased to
support an expansion of CVSO office staffing. The additional
funding shall be directed to expanding the staff dedicated to
full time outreach and claims work.
2)That resources are needed to fund additional professional
service representative staff at CalVet district offices in
support of claims representation (appeals), local training,
and local outreach. Outreach should specifically increase in
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areas where the state can provide economy of scale.
According to CalVet's latest annual report (October 20, 2014),
CVSOs brought in approximately $546 million in new, recurring
veteran benefits into the state's economy.
CVSO funding. While CVSOs are independent local agencies,
funding is derived from a combination of local and state
resources. The state provides limited local assistance funding
from various sources, including the General Fund (subvention),
Veterans Service Office Fund, and reimbursements (Medi-Cal cost
avoidance). The subvention funding is appropriated to CalVet,
which allocates the funds to the CVSOs.
Since 2004, the state's contribution to CVSO funding has
languished at $2.6 million until recent years. The Legislature
enacted consecutive "one-time" augmentations of $3 million,
which were included, respectively, in the 2013-14 and 2014-15.
The 2015-16 state budget process established the level of $5.6
as the new budgetary baseline.
The single-year augmentations have been dedicated to one of
three main themes from the CalVet/CVSO best practices manual:
Contacting veterans.
Connecting veterans to their benefits and services.
Continuous communication with veterans.
The funding increase boosted the abilities of CVSOs and CalVet
to connect veterans in their communities with the expansion of
outreach activities, thereby linking more veterans with their
community-based system of care and local service providers. The
funds have allowed for the deployment of 32.5 additional
professional VSRs and 30 support staff to connect veterans with
their compensation and pension benefits available through the
USDVA, resulting in an increase of federal dollars drawn down to
the state this year and continuing into future years.
Comments
1)The previous version of this bill contained a provision, which
would have continuously appropriated $5.6 million annually
from the General Fund to CalVet for allocation to counties to
fund CVSO activities. This was removed in Senate
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Appropriations Committee.
2)In July 2015, the State Auditor released Report 2015-505,
which concluded, among other things, that CalVet's auditing of
CVSO workload activity reports is inadequate and hinders the
department's ability to demonstrate that the funding it
distributes to the CVSOs is consistent with their actual
workloads:
The auditing process does not generally identify errors
that can be found only by reviewing the records that are
the basis of the reports.
The procedures for conducting audits are not documented,
thereby reducing assurance that audits are conducted
correctly and completely.
According to CalVet, the language in AB 171 is part of the
Department's effort to respond to the audit's findings and
recommendations.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 2703 (Quirk-Silva, 2014) (1) would have required CalVet, no
later than January 1, 2015, to develop an allocation formula
based upon performance standards that incentivize CVSO
performance; and (2) would have declared the Legislature's
intent to fund specified CVSO activities and to provide an
additional $400,000 for disbursement to the counties to
encourage innovation and reward outstanding service by CVSOs.
(Held, suspense, Senate Committee on Appropriations)
SB 419 (Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Chapter 48,
Statutes of 2009) (1) revises findings and declarations in
existing law by declaring that 50 percent of the amount annually
budgeted for CVSOs is (should be) approximately $11 million
(rather than the existing $5 million), and (2) sunsets after
January 1, 2016.
SB 418 (Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Chapter 48,
Statutes of 2009) revises existing legislative findings and
declarations with regard to the use of General Fund monies for
services provided by veterans service organizations by
clarifying that the General Fund monies shall not be allocated
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until the annual budget for CVSOs reaches $5 million.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Unknown costs, potentially in the tens of thousands for CalVet
to annually report on the impact of funds provided in the
annual Budget Act to support activities of CVSOs (General
Fund).
Minor costs to develop an allocation formula to govern the
distribution of the appropriated funds to CVSOs (General
Fund).
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Grove
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Prepared by:Wade Cooper Teasdale / V.A. / (916) 651-1503
8/30/15 19:49:06
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