BILL NUMBER: AB 2085 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Irwin
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
An act to amend Section 51 of, and to add and repeal
Section 59.5 to, of, the Military and
Veterans Code, relating to military and veterans.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2085, as amended, Irwin. Military and veterans: legal aid.
Existing law establishes the California Military Department, which
includes the Office of the Adjutant General, the California National
Guard, the State Military Reserve, the California Cadet Corps, and
the Naval Militia.
This bill would would, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, create the Office of Military Legal
Assistance within the Military Department. The bill would require the
Office of Military Legal Assistance to facilitate the
delivery of legal assistance programs, pro bono services, and
self-help services to current and former military personnel in the
state, and to function as a clearinghouse for the coordination of
attorneys offering pro bono legal services to military members
needing legal representation. The bill would additionally authorize
the Military Department to apply for and accept grants, gifts,
donations, bequests, and devises on behalf of the Office of Military
Legal Assistance, and to deposit those in the Military Legal
Assistance Account, established in the California Military Department
Support Fund. The bill would provide that the Military Legal
Assistance Account is available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for the purpose of carrying out the functions of the
Office of Military Legal Assistance. office to assist
current servicemembers in the state who require legal assistance by
providing access to educational and informational resources and by
providing referral services to available legal assistance programs,
including reduced fee services, pro bono services, and self-help
services. The bill would, subject to the provisions
described above, authorize the office to provide assistance in legal
areas including, but not limited to, the federal Servicemembers Civil
Relief Act, the federal Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act, consumer protection, and landlord-tenant
issues. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1,
2022, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2023.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. 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 both of the
following:
(a) Attorneys in California are needed to assist active duty
servicemembers and reservists with legal matters. Military personnel
are often presented with legal challenges due to the requirements of
their service, such as frequent relocation, interrupted employment,
financial need, and strain on family life, among others.
(b) While some legal services are provided to servicemembers
through their respective service's Judge Advocates General (JAG),
there is a gap in service for a variety of legal issues, particularly
in civil law, because JAGs are prohibited from representing
servicemembers in civilian court in almost all cases. The primary
legal areas with which servicemembers require assistance include the
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, family law, consumer fraud, property
and landlord issues, naturalization and immigration, creditor and
debtor issues, and predatory lending.
SEC. 2. Section 51 of the Military and Veterans Code is amended to
read:
51. The Military Department includes the office of the Adjutant
General, the California National Guard, the State Military Reserve,
the California Cadet Corps, the Naval Militia, and the Office of
Military Legal Assistance.
SEC. 3. Section 59.5 is added to the Military and Veterans Code,
to read:
59.5. (a) The Office of Military Legal Assistance is hereby
created in the Military Department. The Office of Military
Legal Assistance office shall
facilitate the delivery of assist current
servicemembers in the state who require legal assistance by providing
access to educational and informational resources and by providing
referral services to available legal assistance programs,
including reduced fee services, pro bono services, and
self-help services to current and former military personnel
in the state. services.
(b) The Office of Military Legal Assistance shall function as a
clearinghouse for the coordination of attorneys offering pro bono
legal services to military service members needing legal
representation.
(c) The department may apply for and accept grants, gifts,
donations, bequests, and devises on behalf of the Office of Military
Legal Assistance, which shall be deposited in the Military Legal
Assistance Account, as hereby established in the California Military
Department Support Fund. Notwithstanding Section 412.5, funds in the
Military Legal Assistance Account are available, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, for the purpose of carrying out the functions of
the office pursuant to this section.
(b) Subject to subdivision (a), the office may provide assistance
in legal areas, including, but not limited to, the federal
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the federal Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, consumer protection, and
landlord-tenant issues.
(c) This section shall become effective only upon appropriation of
funds by the Legislature for the purposes described in this section.
(d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2022, and, as
of January 1, 2023, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2023, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.