BILL ANALYSIS
AB 716
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 716 (Huber) - As Amended: April 23, 2009
Policy Committee: Veterans
AffairsVote: 8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill:
1)Requires every state agency to identify any services,
benefits, or assistance provided to veterans and the number of
veterans involved in these activities and report this
information to the Legislature by July 1, 2010.
2)States legislative intent that the Department of Veterans
Affairs (DVA) establish a veteran data exchange system and
enter into agreements with other agencies to ascertain the
veteran status of all persons receiving services, benefits, or
assistance from those agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time costs for DVA to establish a data exchange system
would probably exceed $150,000 for at least one full-time
position plus programming costs. Depending on the number
state agencies providing services, benefits, or assistance to
veterans, the department would also incur one-time costs of
$50,000 to $100,000 to enter into memorandums of understanding
(MOUs) with these agencies and to design a uniform report for
agency use in reporting to the Legislature.
2)State agencies could incur significant costs to develop a data
exchange system with the DVA and, to the extent they do not
currently identify veterans among their beneficiaries or
service recipients, to modify their existing systems.
COMMENTS
AB 716
Page 2
1)Purpose . Services for veterans can be found at a number of
departments, such as the Employment Development Department
(EDD), whose Workforce Services Offices and One-Stop Career
Centers have specially-trained staff to ensure veterans
receive maximum employment and training opportunities. The
DVA, however, does not receive information in any systematic
way from other state departments and agencies about services
that are being provided to veterans. For example, The
Department of Mental Health and the Department of Housing and
Community Development do not track how many veterans they
serve. The author believes that if these departments were to
keep track of the services provided to veterans, California
would be better positioned to provide the services needed to
ensure a smoother transition for veterans coming home from
Iraq and Afghanistan. She cites a study that shows younger
male veterans aged 18 to 25 were more likely to have had
serious mental illness than male non-veterans in the same age
group.
2)Comment . The bill should be more narrowly tailored to the
handful of agencies known to come in contact with veterans,
such as EDD and the Department Motor Vehicles. (There are
over 100 state agencies, department, boards, and commissions.)
In addition, the bill does not indicate how DVA is to use the
information received from other agencies nor the length of
time for the MOUs.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081