BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2561|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2561
Author: Committee on Veterans Affairs
Amended: 4/12/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Nielsen, Hueso, Allen, Nguyen, Roth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/1/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Veterans cemeteries
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes the California Central Coast
Veterans Cemetery (CCCVC) Project Donation Fund; specifies how
certain donations will be deposited and expended; and
establishes a continuous appropriation from the Fund to the
Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) for these purposes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides for the design, development, and construction of a
state-owned and state-operated veterans' cemetery at the site
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of the former Fort Ord.
2)Establishes the CCCVC at Fort Ord Endowment Fund, which is
available upon appropriation by the Legislature for design,
construction, and maintenance costs of the cemetery.
3)Authorizes the Secretary of CalVet, to accept donations for
maintenance or beautification of the veterans' cemetery.
4)Requires that those donations be deposited in the endowment
fund.
This bill:
1)Establishes the CCCVC at Ford Ord Project Donation Fund within
the State Treasury.
2)Requires - for donations in the form of cash:
a) If the donor has not specified a purpose, the moneys
shall be deposited in the Endowment Fund, and expended for
the maintenance and repair of the veterans cemetery upon
appropriation by the Legislature.
b) If the donor has specified a purpose, the moneys shall
be deposited in the Project Donation Fund, and be expended
for the specified veterans cemetery maintenance or
beautification project designated by the donor.
3)Provides for continuously appropriating the Project Donation
Fund to CalVet for these purposes without regard for fiscal
year.
Background
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) builds
and operates federal veterans cemeteries, including nine
locations in California. The State also operates state veterans
cemeteries at two locations (Yountville and Redding) with a
third one under construction (CCCVC), and a fourth under
consideration for Orange County.
In 1991 the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission
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recommended that the United States Army post at Ford Ord in
Monterey County be inactivated. The fort was closed in 1994.
Part of the Base Reuse Plan includes building a veterans
cemetery. The Legislature has authorized a state veterans
cemetery at that location.
Since 1978, under USDVA's State Cemetery Grants Program, the
federal government will fund up to 100 percent of the cost of
establishing, expanding, or improving state veterans'
cemeteries, including the acquisition of initial operating
equipment, if the state agrees to cover the administrative and
oversight costs in perpetuity.
The CCCVC will be the second California state veterans cemetery
developed and constructed in cooperation with the USDVA Veterans
Cemetery Grants Program. (The Northern California Veterans
Cemetery near Redding, which opened in 2006, is California's
first such cemetery constructed under this approach.) CCCVC is
currently in construction with an estimated opening in the
autumn of 2016.
Once completed, the cemetery will serve all veterans, but most
conveniently for the approximately 100,000 veterans and families
living within 75 miles of the site, an area that includes the
counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito, and the
southern half of Santa Clara County.
The estimated interment needs of that area's veteran population
are 5,600 burial and crypt sites for the initial 10 years. The
actual interment sites to be provided in this initial phase will
be approximately 2,800 burial and crypt sites.
The Phase I plan will develop 26 acres of the site. At a
minimum, the cemetery will provide approximately 11,500
gravesites in its 20-year build-out.
AB 3035 (Laird, Chapter 291, Statutes of 2006) established an
endowment to cover maintenance costs -- prior to applying for
grant funding for construction. The endowment fund goal is $3.4
million. The current strategy is to sell or lease a portion of
the site not required to meet burial needs for the next 100
years.
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Comments
This bill conforms the Military and Veterans Code structure for
the CCCVC more closely to that of the Northern California and
Southern California state cemeteries, each of which have
distinct donations funds.
The endowment fund for the CCCVC had the primary purpose of
containing an endowment which was contemplated to be received
from private sources in order to help get the CCCSVC started and
to defray the costs of the initial work. This bill creates a
separate fund, apart from the endowment fund, for the purpose of
clearly segregating and protecting funds received from donors
for maintenance and beautification projects.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Minor and absorbable costs to CalVet for administering the fund
(CCCVC Project Donation Fund).
SUPPORT: (Verified8/3/16)
American G.I. Forum of California
American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
Military Officers Association of America - California Council of
Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of American - California State Council
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/3/16)
None received
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Daly, Mathis, Olsen
Prepared by:Wade Teasdale / V.A. / (916) 651-1503
8/3/16 18:13:28
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