BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 980
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Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 980
(Nielsen) - As Amended June 22, 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 updates code sections governing state veterans' homes,
and among other things, requires the Department of Veterans
Affairs (CalVet) to:
1)Adopt statewide policies and procedures, by regulation, for
the operation of the state veterans home system;
2)Implement a statewide electronic health records system; and
SB 980
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3)Submit an annual report that reflects significant veteran's
home-related performance issues, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Finance estimates the CalVet will require multiple positions and
potentially several million ongoing General Fund dollars that
are largely attributable to the adoption of uniform regulations,
requirement for a statewide electronic medical record system,
and changes to veteran home admissions eligibility. A portion of
the costs include 11 permanent positions and $1.8 million
General Fund in 2016-17 and $1.7 million General Fund annually
thereafter in order to implement a uniform quality of care
review process.
COMMENTS:
Background and Purpose. The entire Military and Veterans Code
is in need of modernization and cleanup. The department
undertook a project to address the code cleanup, but it has
been postponed indefinitely. The code sections for the Homes
are particularly out of date despite the fact that the
operation of the Homes is the department's largest program by
far. For example, current law omits reference to six of the
eight Veterans Home locations.
According to the author, the Military and Veterans Code is out
of date, containing obsolete references and archaic
terminology in dire need of updates. None of the eight homes
in the system follow standardized regulations or procedures.
This bill seeks to update, clarify, and standardize the code
sections governing veterans' homes to increase efficiency and
give veterans the high quality of care they deserve
SB 980
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Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081