BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1570
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 13, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

              AB 1570 (Veterans Affairs) - As Amended:  April 16, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Veterans  
          AffairsVote: 5-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires state agencies, when awarding grants or  
          entering into contracts with nongovernmental agencies to provide  
          social services to veterans to give preference to "qualified  
          entities," i.e. those incorporated primarily to provide services  
          to veterans and their families and that:

          1)Demonstrate the experience to provide veterans services and  
            the management capacity to capably perform public contracts.

          2)Demonstrate that a majority of an entity's resources are  
            dedicated toward serving veterans and their families.

          3)Demonstrate all required filings are current with the  
            Secretary of State, charitable trusts, and the Attorney  
            General, and have up-to-date articles of incorporation,  
            Internal Revenue Service letters of determination, and  
            taxpayer identification numbers.

          The bill also requires an entity seeking the preference provided  
          in this bill to seek certification from the Department of  
          Veterans Affairs (DVA), in a manner determined by the  
          department, as an eligible entity, and authorizes DVA to charge  
          each applicant entity a certification fee of up to $500 for the  
          departments costs to review applications.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)The bill would mainly involve grants or contracts for veterans  
            services entered into by the DVA, the Employment Development  
            Department, the Department of Mental Health, the Department of  








                                                                  AB 1570
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            Housing and Community Development, and the Department of  
            Alcohol and Drug Programs.  Each department would probably  
            incur minor absorbable administrative costs to revise their  
            criteria for awarding grants and contracts to account for the  
            preference to be provided to qualified entities pursuant to  
            this bill.

          2)Costs to DVA for reviewing applications and certifying  
            organizations as qualified entities, including providing an  
            appeals process, would be covered by the allowable fee.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  The author states that it is her intent to enact  
          legislation that would ensure that the selection process used to  
          determine whether state funds that are intended for veterans  
          actually go to organizations with a track record of serving  
          veterans.  The bill would cover grants and contracts for  
          veterans services including housing, mental health, employment,  
          education, and case management.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081