BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1596
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1596 (Mathis) - As Amended April 19, 2016
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|Policy | Veterans Affairs |Vote:| 7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill appropriates $3 million over the next five years to
the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) to
provide grants and contracts to Veteran Services Organizations
(VSOs) that provide specified services to veterans. This bill
also requires VSOs to be active statewide and be registered with
the Secretary of State and the Department of Justice. Finally,
CalVet will be required to establish, by June 1, 2017, criteria
and reporting requirements for VSOs with whom it contracts.
AB 1596
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FISCAL EFFECT:
In addition to the $3 million GF appropriation, there will be GF
cost in the $200,000 for three staff to manage and monitor the
grants and contracts. To a lesser degree, this annual cost will
continue beyond the five years as the monitoring of contracts
will continue beyond the term of the appropriation.
Funding for County Veteran Service Officers (CVSOs) is provided
in each year's Budget Act. The current Budget Act includes $5.6
million (GF), for 2015-16 and Governor proposes the same level
of funding for next year.
COMMENTS:
1)Background/Purpose. CVSOs are county agencies established to
assist veterans and their families in obtaining benefits and
services accrued through military service. California relies
heavily on the CVSOs to reach and serve the approximately 1.8
million California veterans. (CalVet has a very small number
of state employees that assist veterans with claims.)
In California and throughout the country, in addition to CVSOs
or their equivalent state government counterparts, VSOs assist
veterans in filing claims. VSOs are not government entities,
they are private, non-profit organizations that serve and
advocate for veterans.
According to the author, by comparison, California veterans
are not receiving the same level of benefits and services as
veterans in Texas or Florida. The author contends that by
AB 1596
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offering competitive grants to VSOs, California can realize
the same utilization rate as those states.
2)Comments: When the 2015-16 Governor Budget was introduced, it
only included $2.6 million for CVSOs; however, by the time the
Budget was enacted, this amount was increased to the current
$5.6 million. It may be more appropriate to consider the
proposed appropriation to VSOs within the Budget deliberations
where other issues affecting veterans, such homelessness may
be considered.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081