BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Jim Nielsen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 221 Hearing Date: 4/14/15
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|Author: |Jackson |
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|Version: |2/12/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Wade Teasdale |
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Subject: State public employees: sick leave: veterans with
service-related disabilities
DESCRIPTION
Summary:
Permits state employees, who are military veterans with
service-connected disabilities, to receive additional sick leave
dedicated to health care treatment of those disabilities.
Existing law:
Federal:
1. Directs the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
(USDVA) to analyze and rate the service-connected
disabilities of qualified military veterans.
2. Directs USDVA to provide health care treatment and
monetary compensation to veterans with rated,
service-connected disabilities.
State:
1. Authorizes the Legislature to provide preferences to
veterans and their surviving spouses in state employment.
2. Provides that state agency employers provide employees
with the ability to accrue and apply sick leave and
establishes procedures for agency administration of those
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sick leave benefits.
This bill:
1. Grants a state officer or employee, who is a military
veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 30% or
more by USDVA, an additional credit for sick leave with pay
of up to 96 hours.
2. Limits use of this sick leave to medical treatment of
the employee's military service-related disability.
3. Requires that this sick leave be credited on the first
day of employment and remain available for use for the
following 12 months of employment.
4. Prohibits this sick leave from being carried over after
12 months.
5. Permits employing agencies to adopt rules requiring
"submission of satisfactory proof" that the sick leave is
being used for treatment of a service-connected disability.
BACKGROUND
Sick Leave for State Employees
Employees of California state government agencies are eligible
to accrue sick leave credits, which they may use to take time
off from work at full pay. Provided they have sufficient accrued
credits, sick leave compensates employees during periods of
absence due to:
Being physically or mentally unable to work due to
illness or injury.
Obtaining professional diagnosis of treatment for a
medical condition.
Other medical reasons, such as pregnancy or obtaining a
physical examination.
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Attending to illness of a child, parent, spouse, or
domestic partner.
The Government and Labor codes contain provisions for sick leave
with actual benefits for represented employees are further
specified by collective bargaining agreements or memorandums of
understanding (MOU). Benefits for nonrepresented employees
designated as managerial, supervisory, and confidential are
further specified in California Department of Human Resources
(CalHR) regulations.
Federal Benefits for Service-Connected Disabilities
USDVA provides health care treatment and monetary compensation
to veterans with service-connected disabilities.
Health Care:
USDVA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) operates the
nation's largest integrated health care system with over
1,700 sites of care, serving 8.76 million veterans each
year. California veterans are served by the numerous
hospitals and clinics owned, operated and regionally
administered by the VHA.
VHA's Sierra Pacific Network (VISN 21) is responsible for
serving Northern California veterans, while Southern
Californians are served by VHA's Desert Pacific Healthcare
Network (VISN 22).
In addition to direct health treatment services, VHA
administers the Veterans Choice Program. The Choice Program
is a new, temporary benefit that allows eligible veterans
an option to receive health care within their local
communities rather than waiting for a backlogged VHA
appointment or traveling to a distant VHA-owned facility.
Disability Compensation:
USDVA's Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides
disability compensation as a tax-free monetary benefit to
veterans rated with disabilities incurred or aggravated
during active military service. Compensation may also be
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paid for post-service disabilities that are considered
related or secondary to disabilities occurring in service
and for disabilities presumed to be related to
circumstances of military service, even though they may
arise after service. Generally, the degrees of disability
specified are also designed to compensate for considerable
loss of working time from exacerbations or illnesses.
Recent Trends: Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities
Of the nearly 1.9 million "post-9/11" veterans separated from
the military after one or more deployments to Iraq and/or
Afghanistan:<1>
1,126,173 (60%) have obtained USDVA health care since FY
2002 (cumulative).
- 685,668 (61%) of 1,121,675 former Active Duty
- 440,505 (59%) of 744,453 Reserve/National
Guard
Among the veterans who received health care since FY
2002:
- 1,039,313 of 1,126,173 (92%) have been seen
only as outpatients by USDVA.
- 86,860 of 1,126,173 (8%) have been
hospitalized at least once in a USDVA facility.
USDVA Disability Ratings
The USDVA rates disabilities to facilitate health care and
compensation claims for injuries or diseases that happened
during active duty, or were made worse by active military
---------------------------
<1> Epidemiology Program, Post-Deployment Health Group, Office
of Public Health, "Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization among
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF),
and Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans: Cumulative from 1st Qtr
FY 2002 through 4th Qtr FY 2014 (October 1, 2001 - September
30, 2014)", Veterans Health Administration, Department of
Veterans Affairs, January 2015, pg 5.
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service. The amount of basic benefit paid varies depending on
the rated severity of the condition.
A veteran need not be totally disabled in order to be eligible
for compensation. USDVA rates disability along a continuum of
0%-to-100% in 10% increments, depending upon the level of
disability determined. The disability percentage also can be
derived by analyzing the composite condition of an individual
veteran with multiple disabilities.
The 10% rating is the lowest for which compensable income is
awarded. A veteran with a 100% rating will have one or more
disabilities that significantly interfere with normal life
functions. A veteran with a 0% rating may have a
service-connected condition, but the condition does not
interfere with normal life functions. The majority of disabled
veterans are rated between10% to 30%.
In general, it makes sense for a veteran to seek evaluation,
even for a condition likely to receive a 0% rating (which is not
monetarily compensable). The reason is that the veteran, at a
minimum, will have documented a service-connected health
condition, which may deteriorate later into a more serious,
perhaps compensable disability. In addition, individuals with a
0% rating may be eligible for federal and state veterans'
benefits other than monetary compensation.
As time passes, a veteran's disability claim may require
re-ratings. The re-ratings can be caused by changes in law,
advances in medical knowledge, or fluctuations in the veteran's
physical or mental condition. A re-rating can cause an
individual's percentage to go up or down.
COMMENT
Author's Statement :
Newly hired state employees begin their careers with no
sick leave, and accrue it slowly, after their first month
of employment, at a rate of 8 hours per month. As a result,
disabled veterans who have recently entered the state
workforce may not have sufficient sick leave to attend
medical appointments, and may struggle with the demands of
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a disability on top of those of a new job. Disabled
veterans should not have to take unpaid leave to attend
their VA or medical appointments or be forced to cancel
difficult-to-schedule VA appointments. SB 221 will help
ease the transition from military service to state service
by allowing disabled veterans who are state workers to take
the time they need to get regular medical or psychiatric
care.
Committee Staff Comments :
1. The author notes that "(a)ccording to CalHR, there are
12,441 veterans in state civil service, and approximately
1,739 self-identify as disabled." These existing state
employee veterans would consist primarily of older,
pre-9/11 veterans, including "Desert Shield/Storm" (1991)
veterans and Vietnam veterans. These older veterans did not
apply for USDVA disability ratings and health treatment at
the much higher rates observed in the younger, emerging
post-9/11 veterans, many of whom have experienced multiple
deployments to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. For example, the
Congressional Research Service states that 27 percent of
U.S. military personnel returning from Afghanistan and Iraq
warrant the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD).<2>
2. State agencies have a vested interest in facilitating
the quick health recovery of newly hired veterans. In
addition to meeting any inherent moral obligation to
support veterans, agencies benefit generally from the
efficiency and work climate associated with a healthier
work force.
3. Potential Amendments for Consideration : As written, the
bill permits a qualifying officer or employee to receive
the sick leave credit "on the first day of employment" and
provides that the credit "shall remain available for use
for the following 12 months of employment."
--------------------------
<2> Blakely, K. and Jansen, D., "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
and Other Mental Health Problems in the Military: Oversight
Issues for Congress," Congressional Research Service, August 8,
2013.
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a. One-time benefit ? If the author intends this
to be a one-time benefit received upon initial entry
into state service, is the existing language
sufficiently clear? Should the bill be clarified to
prevent the possibility of a qualifying employee
triggering a new round of sick leave credits whenever
the employee switches to a job in a different state
agency? In other words, clarify the benefit's
association with "first day of employment in state
service" as opposed to "first day of employment with
the agency."
b. Existing employees? The medical treatment
protocols associated with some disabilities can extend
for years into the future. As noted under Staff
Comment #1 above, there are existing, perhaps
long-time state employees, who are disabled veterans,
who have been receiving ongoing USDVA treatment for
service-connected disabilities, and whose initial
years of state service predate the effective date of
this measure, if enacted. Many disabilities worsen
over time as the individual ages. An existing state
employee may work in an agency for years with a USDVA
rating lower than 30 percent, but eventually be
re-rated to a level that meets or exceeds the
30-percent threshold. Furthermore, many
service-connected disabilities are never diagnosed at
all until years, sometimes decades after military
service was completed. Even now Vietnam Era and older
veterans are receiving initial diagnoses of
service-connected disabilities and receiving
first-time eligibility for USDVA health treatment.
Should this bill be amended to extend this sick leave
credit to existing employees or should the credit be
restricted to new hires?
c. Consistent rules of proof ? The bill permits
employing agencies to adopt rules that require
"(s)ubmission of satisfactory proof that sick leave
granted under this subdivision is used for treatment
of a service-connected disability." In order to avoid
a patchwork of inconsistent rules across myriad state
employers:
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i. Should the bill be amended to
enact a single standard of proof (a) that
establishes that a participating employee has a
current USDVA disability rating of at least
30-percent and (b) that each medical appointment
applied toward this sick leave benefit is
documented as treating only health conditions
associated with the service-connected disability?
ii. Alternatively, should the bill
direct CalHR to promulgate a common "submission
of proof" rule that covers all state employers?
Related Legislation :
1. AB 1522 (Gonzales, Ch. 317, Stats. 2014 )
Among other things, the "Healthy Workplaces, Healthy
Families Act of 2014":
a. Provides, for the purposes of this program, that
"employer" includes the state, political subdivisions of
the state, and municipalities.
b. Provides that an employee who works in California
for seven or more days in a calendar year is entitled to
paid sick days, as specified, on and after July 1, 2015.
c. Provides that an employee shall accrue paid sick
days at the rate of not less than one hour per every 30
hours worked, beginning at the commencement of employment
or the operative date of this bill, whichever is later.
d. Provides that an employee shall be entitled to use
accrued paid sick days beginning on the 90th calendar day
of employment, after which the employee may use paid sick
days as they are accrued.
e. Provides that an "employee" does not include an
employee covered by a valid collective bargaining
agreement that expressly provides for paid sick days or
similar policy, as specified.
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1. AB 1397 (Committee on Veterans Affairs, Ch. 645, Stats.
2014 ) adds veterans preference to the list of selection
devices that CalHR must review and examine the validity of,
and adds veterans status to the list of specified data
collected in order to determine utilization of certain
groups.
2. SB 1563 (Cannella, Ch. 768, Stats. 2012) requires that a
veteran who has completed acceptable training in the U.S.
Armed Forces as a military law enforcement officer shall
receive 15 preference points in an examination for an open
peace officer position in state employment, and states
legislative intent with regard to veterans' abilities to
become state peace officers.
3. AB 1729 (Yamada, Ch. 237, Stats. 2010) extends, from six
months to 12 months, the amount of time a veteran may
receive preference points on employment lists resulting
from open, nonpromotional civil service examinations.
4. SB 644 (Denham, Ch. 357, Stats. 2009) increases the
veterans preference points provided on open,
non-promotional state civil service entrance examinations
from 10 to 15 points for disabled veterans; and from five
to 10 points for all other veterans.
5. AB 2550 (Blakeslee, Ch. 494, Stats. of 2006) Provided
qualified members of the California National Guard, or a
widow, widower, or spouse of a qualified member, preference
points, as specified, for any civil service employment.
6. SB 637 (Baca, Ch. 404, Stats.1999) made revisions to
existing law providing special preferences for the
appointment of disabled veterans.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support:
National Association of Social Workers (NASW) - CA Chapter
American Legion - Department of CA
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AMVETS - Department of CA
CA Association of County Veterans Service Officers (CACVSO)
CA State Commanders Veteran Council
Military Officers Association of America - CA Council of
Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of CA
Vietnam Veterans of American - CA State Council
Oppose:
None on file
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