BILL NUMBER: SB 866 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Roth
JANUARY 11, 2016
An act to amend Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code,
relating to veterans.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 866, as introduced, Roth. Veterans housing.
Existing law, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond
Act of 2014, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of
$600,000,000 for expenditure by the California Housing Finance
Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the
Department of Veterans Affairs (the departments) to provide
multifamily housing and services to veterans pursuant to the Veterans
Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014. Existing law requires
the departments to establish and implement programs pursuant to those
purposes.
This bill would authorize a housing developer or service provider
that receives bond moneys pursuant to those provisions to provide
housing or services to veterans and their children in women-only
facilities or men-only facilities in limited instances, as specified.
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. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2016: Proposition 41
Expenditures: Military Sexual Trauma."
SEC. 2. Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code is
amended to read:
987.005. (a) The departments shall establish and implement
programs pursuant to the purposes of this article that focus on
veterans at risk for homelessness or experiencing temporary or
chronic homelessness. To the extent feasible, the departments shall
establish and implement programs that, among other things, do the
following:
(1) Leverage public (federal, state, and local), private, and
nonprofit program and fiscal resources.
(2) Prioritize projects that combine housing and supportive
services, including, but not limited to, job training, mental health
and drug treatment, case management, care coordination, or physical
rehabilitation.
(3) Promote public and private partnerships.
(4) Foster innovative financing opportunities.
(5) Ensure program guidelines and terms provide threshold
requirements or scoring criteria, or both, to advance applicants with
experience in combining permanent or transitional housing, or both,
with supportive services for veterans, or for partnering with housing
developers or service providers with experience offering housing or
services to veterans.
(b) The departments shall ensure at least 50 percent of funds
awarded for capital development under this article provide housing to
veteran households with extremely low incomes, as defined in Section
50106 of the Health and Safety Code.
(1) In determining whether a potential tenant is eligible for
supportive, affordable, or transitional housing targeted to extremely
low income households under this provision, eligibility shall take
into consideration all of a household's income sources upon initial
tenancy.
(2) At least 60 percent of units funded targeting extremely low
income households shall be supportive housing.
(3) This section shall not deter the departments from funding
projects serving mixed-income populations.
(c) The departments may review, adopt, amend, and repeal
guidelines or terms, or both, to implement this article. Any
guidelines or terms adopted to implement this article shall not be
subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(d) Nothing in this article permits the departments or the board
to purchase, operate, or manage properties except in the event of a
foreclosure on a borrower or grantee.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a housing developer or
service provider that receives bond moneys pursuant to this article
may provide housing or services to male or female veterans and their
children in men-only or women-only facilities, respectively, in
limited instances in which (1) a male or female veteran has suffered
any form of sexual abuse, trauma, or intimidation or harassment while
on active duty and is seeking treatment for that sexual abuse,
trauma, or intimidation or harassment, or (2) is seeking the housing
or services as a result of being a victim of sexual abuse or domestic
violence.
(2) A housing developer or service provider that provides housing
or services to male or female veterans in men-only facilities or
women-only facilities pursuant to paragraph (1) shall ensure that the
housing or services shall provide supportive housing or services
with a focus on, among others, treating the effects of male or female
military sexual abuse, trauma, or intimidation.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision:
(A) "Men-only facilities" means the facilities may house and
provide services to male veterans only and their children, and shall
not house or provide services to any adult who is not a dependent of
a male veteran.
(B) "Women-only facilities" means the facilities may house and
provide services to female veterans only and their children, and
shall not house or provide services to any adult who is not a
dependent of a female veteran.
SEC. 3. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the changes
made by this act to Section 987.005 of the Military and Veterans Code
are necessary in order to provide a safe environment to male and
female veterans who have been subject to, among others, sexual abuse,
harassment, or domestic violence. Providing a gender-specific
treatment and housing community to address the needs of at-risk
veterans who have been sexually abused or physically while in service
or thereafter is necessary for purposes of treatment and recovery.
It is, therefore, necessary that these facilities be focused on
"men-only" or "women-only" treatment and services with a focus on
treatment related to sexual abuse, harassment, or domestic violence,
which may be distinct from other treatment or services that other
veterans may be seeking under similar provisions, such as for PTSD or
job placement.
(b) In that respect, the Legislature finds and declares that
providing gender-specific treatment and housing pursuant to this act
serves a compelling state interest, which interest is providing the
best possible treatment to our veterans who have served our country
and who now face additional hurdles that disproportionately affect
some veterans over others. The Legislature further finds and declares
that providing separate facilities distinct from the norm of
multifamily housing is substantially related to the achievement of
those objectives.