BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: Ab 716
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Huber
VERSION: 6/1/09
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: July 7, 2009
SUBJECT:
State agencies: veterans
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and
the Employment Development Department (EDD) to collect specified
information on those who identify themselves as veterans,
transmit this information to the California Department of
Veterans Affairs (CDVA), and inform the veterans that they are
doing so.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law creates DMV to register vehicles and license
drivers. DMV performs various other related duties, including
enforcing vehicle financial responsibility laws, regulating
traffic schools, and regulating motor vehicle dealers, sales
people, transporters, and manufacturers.
This bill :
1.Makes various legislative findings, including that only 11
percent of veterans in California who are eligible to receive
compensation and pension payments from the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs do so, whereas the national average is 12
percent.
2.Expresses the intent of the Legislature that CDVA enter into
memorandums of understanding or interagency agreements with
other state agencies, as selected by CDVA, to ascertain the
veteran status of all persons receiving services, benefits, or
assistance from those state agencies.
3.Requires DMV and EDD to collect the name, address, telephone
AB 716 (HUBER) Page 2
number, and e-mail address, if available, of individuals that
identify themselves as veterans and transmit this information
to CDVA on a quarterly basis.
4.Requires DMV and EDD to notify the veterans that they are
collecting the information in order to transmit it to CDVA.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill to provide contact
information for veterans to CDVA, so it can contact those
veterans to inform them of their likely eligibility for
federal benefits. The author notes that California veterans
currently receive in excess of $6 billion in federal benefits
each year, but if California rose to the national average of
12% of eligible veterans collecting their due benefits, then
an extra $330 million dollars in veteran benefits would flow
to Californians. This bill endeavors to increase the number of
veterans who are aware of their eligibility for federal
benefits and who collect those benefits.
2.DMV's role and costs . It is unclear from this bill how a
veteran would know to identify him or herself to either EDD or
DMV. It is conceivable that if a person were applying for a
veteran's license plate, then DMV would know of his or her
status as a veteran. Absent applying for a special plate,
however, a veteran would have to be prompted to tell DMV of
his or her status. Then DMV would have to collect and transmit
the information required under this bill to CDVA and inform
the veterans of that transmission.
The cost for DMV to inquire of each person applying for or
renewing a driver's license or registering a motor vehicle
would be huge. Each year, DMV renews over 4.5 million drivers'
licenses and registers approximately 33 million vehicles. This
bill seems to require DMV to ask each applicant for a new or
renewal driver's license or new or renewal vehicle
registration if the applicant is a veteran and then to review
the answers that come in from these over 37 million inquiries,
collect the contact information for those that identify as
veterans, and transmit it to CDVA.
In addition to being tremendously expensive, it is unclear how
this fits within the DMV's responsibility to register vehicles
and their drivers. Because DMV is a main point of contact with
state government for Californians, it is sometimes perceived
AB 716 (HUBER) Page 3
as attractive entity through which to pursue policy goals
unrelated to administering motor vehicle laws. DMV is funded
from the fees drivers pay to register their vehicles and
maintain their driving privilege. The committee may therefore
wish to consider whether assigning the duty of identifying the
veteran status of individuals is an appropriate use of DMV
resources.
3.Technical amendment . On page 3, line 19, after "themselves"
insert "to those departments"
4.Committee of second referral . The Rules Committee referred
this bill to the Veterans Affairs Committee and to the
Transportation and Housing Committee. This bill passed that
committee on June 23, 2009 by a 6 to 0 vote.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 74 - 0
Appr: 13 - 4
Vet A: 8 - 0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
July 1, 2009)
SUPPORT: American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service
Officers
OPPOSED: None received.