BILL ANALYSIS
AB 716
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 716 (Huber)
As Amended June 1, 2009
Majority Vote
VETERANS AFFAIRS 8-0 APPROPRIATIONS 13-4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Salas, DeVore, Gilmore, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Huber, Lieu, V. Manuel | |Calderon, Davis, Fuentes, |
| |Perez, Saldana, Yamada | |Hall, John A. Perez, |
| | | |Price, Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Audra Strickland, |
| | | |Torlakson, Krekorian |
| | | | |
|-----+-------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Declares legislative intent for the California Department
of Veterans Affairs (CDVA) to establish a veteran data exchange
system and enter into memorandums of understanding (MOUs) or
interagency agreements with other state agencies and departments to
ascertain the veteran status of all persons receiving services,
benefits, or assistance from those state agencies and departments.
Specifically, this bill would require each state agency and
department that provides services, benefits, or assistance to
veterans to identify the services, benefits, or assistance that are
being provided and the number of veterans who are using those
services, benefits, or assistance and to submit a report to the
Legislature.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires CDVA to aid and assist California veterans and their
families and to administer the California Veterans Homes.
2)Establishes, under federal law, the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), and within it, the Veterans Health Administration,
which is responsible for VA medical centers and outpatient
clinics.
3)Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to
AB 716
Page 2
establish a two-year pilot program to utilize the federal Public
Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) to identify
veterans and their dependents or survivors who are enrolled in the
Medi-Cal program and assist them in obtaining federal veteran
health care benefits.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1) CDVA would probably incur one-time costs to coordinate the
receipt of veterans' information from the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) and Employment of Development Department (EDD).
The costs for CDVA to establish MOUs, with departments they
select, would likely be absorbable.
2) EDD and DMV would incur one-time special fund costs to
modify data collection systems and procedures in order to
collect the required information on veterans, and would incur
ongoing costs to collect and transmit data to CDVA quarterly
and these costs are unknown.
COMMENTS : Services for veterans can be found at a number of
departments. Unfortunately, CDVA doe not receive information, in a
systematic way, from other state departments and agencies about
services that are being provided to veterans.
The Employment Development Division operates Workforce Services
Offices and One-Stop Career Centers. These offices and centers have
specially-trained staff to ensure veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces
receive maximum employment and training opportunities. Services can
include counseling, labor market information, job referrals, job
search workshops, and job development with potential employers.
One of the forms the Department of Health Care Services requires for
Medi-Cal applicants asks whether an applicant is a veteran. This
information is not regularly shared with CDVA.
Through the DMV, veterans and military personnel in California
qualify for the following:
1)Special Recognition License Plates.
2)Disabled Person & Veteran License Plates.
3)Veterans' Organizations License Plates.
4)Disabled Person Parking Placard or Plates.
AB 716
Page 3
5)Special Interest License Plate Ordering Information.
On CDVA's Web site it is stated that nearly every county in
California has a resource list of community-based organizations or
government agencies that may provide assistance to homeless
veterans. There are over 460 agencies providing shelter of all types
for veterans. If this many public entities come in to contact with
veterans on a daily basis the author indicates there should be a way
to for all these groups to share this information with CDVA thus
creating a coordinated outreach effort and enabling veterans to
receive needed and available resources.
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 (14.8 vs. 10.2 percent,
respectively).
Reason for the bill : The author cites that approximately 11 % of
veterans in California who are eligible to receive federal benefits
from the VA actually participate in federal programs available to
veterans. California ranks 38th nationally in terms of
participation rate when calculating veterans receiving the federal
benefits they have earned. On a per capita basis, Texas and Florida
collect 44% and 31% more respectively in federal disability benefits
than California. This difference is primarily due to Texas and
Florida having more veterans' services representatives available to
assist veterans in pursuing VA benefit claims.
It is estimated that if California could increase the participation
rate to the national average of slightly over 12%, over $330 million
more could be returned to the state and local economy and paid to
our resident veterans who need that money to support themselves and
their families.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Worthen / V. A. / (916) 319-3550
FN: FN: 0001219