BILL NUMBER: AB 2143 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 19, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gilmore
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula and Cook)
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to add Section 64.5 to the Military and Veterans
Code, relating to military and veterans. An act
relating to workforce development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2143, as amended, Gilmore. Department of Veterans
Affairs: consolidation of services to veterans.
Workforce development: Employment Development Department:
veterans: report.
Existing law contains various programs for job training and
employment investment, including work incentive and employment
training outreach programs.
This bill would require the Employment Development Department to
submit a report, on or before March 1, 2011, to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee and to the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature, regarding the department's veteran employment and job
training programs and suggested options for a governance and
management model to increase program integration and coordination,
improve service delivery efficiency, and enhance program performance.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs within
state government and sets forth its powers and duties, including,
but not limited to, administration of veterans benefits programs.
Existing law establishes the California Veterans Board within the
department and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not
limited to, its power to determine operational policy for the
department.
This bill would establish the California Veterans Services and
Workforce Development Division within the Department of Veterans
Affairs for the purpose of coordinating and administering veterans
assistance programs in the state, and would require the division to
perform various functions and duties relating to the coordination and
administration of veterans assistance programs, as specified. The
bill would require the administrative and support staff responsible
for the administration of the specified programs to be transferred
from the Employment Development Department to the division, and would
require the costs of the transfer to utilize existing resources of
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) On or before March 1,
2011, the Employment Development Department, in coordination with the
Department of Veterans Affairs, shall report to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee and to the appropriate policy committees
of the Legislature regarding both of the following:
(1) How the Employment Development Department's veteran employment
and job training programs are currently structured.
(2) Suggested options for a governance and management model to
increase program integration and coordination, improve service
delivery efficiency, and enhance program performance.
(b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall include, but not
be limited to, all of the following:
(1) A recommended set of goals and objectives, in relation to
increasing employment and training opportunities for veterans, and
appropriate performance standards that may be established to evaluate
the effectiveness and accountability of veteran employment and job
training programs administered by, or funded through, state agencies
and departments.
(2) A description of the extent to which veterans are integrated
in California's Strategic Plan under the federal Workforce Investment
Act of 1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act.
(3) Information regarding how federal Veteran Employment and
Assistance Program and Workforce Investment Act grants are integrated
and coordinated to support veteran employment and job training
programs and how these grants could more significantly contribute to
the effectiveness of the state's veteran employment and job training
programs.
(4) Identification of federal and state funding for veteran
employment and job training programs, including, but not limited to,
funding from the federal Jobs for Veterans Act, the Wagner-Peyser
Act, and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998; statutory or
regulatory restrictions, if any, which prevent the integration and
coordination of the programs; and recommendations regarding securing
or leveraging additional government and nongovernmental funding
sources.
(5) The status of any federal waivers necessary to increase the
integration and coordination of veteran employment and job training
programs.
(6) A description of other integrated and coordinated state
veteran employment and job training program delivery models that
represent best practices, and whether those models could be employed
in this state to improve the delivery of veteran employment and job
training services.
(7) Recommendations on how a state integrated and coordinated
veteran employment and job training program could improve the
percentage of California veterans qualifying for unemployment
insurance and federal veteran compensation and pension benefits to
which veterans are entitled.
(8) The type of training necessary for state and local personnel
to better support the operation of veteran employment and job
training programs and the delivery of these services.
(c) The Employment Development Department shall consult with the
Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the California Research
Bureau, and other state and local agencies and departments that
administer or offer veteran employment and job training programs, or
have related programs and services that serve veterans, in order to
ascertain the information required to be submitted in the report as
specified in subdivision (b).
(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (a) is inoperative on March 1, 2015, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and
declares the following:
(a) California has the largest veteran population in the nation,
comprised of an estimated 2 million veterans. Each month, thousands
of military personnel are released from active service, and face
tremendous challenges transitioning back into civilian life.
(b) The challenges military veterans face are compounded by a
complex system of veteran assistance programs that is difficult to
navigate.
(c) The United States Department of Veterans Affairs expended
approximately $6 billion in California in the 2005 federal fiscal
year. Of that amount, $2.66 billion was in disability payments
(compensation and benefits) to veterans. The states that have the
largest veteran populations in the nation are California, Florida,
and Texas. Texas veterans have collected 44 percent more disability
benefits than the amount collected by California veterans.
(d) Increasing disability benefit participation in California in
an amount that would approach the national average could generate an
additional $330 million in annual payments to California veterans.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
consolidate the veterans assistance programs and their dedicated
staff as identified in Section 64.5 of the Military and Veterans
Code, as added by this act, within the California Veterans Services
and Workforce Development Division of the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
SEC. 2. Section 64.5 is added to the Military
and Veterans Code, to read:
64.5. (a) The California Veterans Services and Workforce
Development Division is hereby established within the department for
the purpose of coordinating and administering veterans assistance
programs in the state. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall have
authority over the division.
(b) The division shall do all of the following:
(1) Coordinate with other state agencies that provide benefits and
assistance to veterans to ensure that information about veterans
assistance programs and benefits is made available to all state
agencies that serve veterans in the state.
(2) Administer the Transitional Assistance Program (TAP) and the
Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP), and oversee the duties of
Local Veteran Employment Representatives (LVER) as prescribed under
the Jobs for Veterans State Grants program, in cooperation with the
Employment Development Department. The division shall work with staff
from the Employment Development Department to develop a plan whereby
responsibility for the administration of TAP and DVOP shall be
transferred from the Employment Development Department to the
division.
(3) Ensure that other state agencies and officials that are
involved in the implementation and administration of veterans
services programs are informed when any changes in existing programs
are required, or new programs are established that provide assistance
and benefits to veterans, and require that those agencies and
officials report to the division when those changes occur or new
programs are established.
(4) Collaborate with staff from other state agencies, including,
but not limited to, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the
Employment Training Panel, the California Workforce Investment Board,
the State Department of Mental Health, the Department of General
Services, the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and
representatives of the University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges with regard to the
provision of veterans services and benefits.
(c) 1/-/ In complying with this section, all administrative and
support staff responsible for the administration of the DVOP, the
TAP, and Local Veteran Employment Representatives shall be
transferred from the Employment Development Department to the
division.
(2) Any costs associated with the implementation of these
transfers shall utilize existing resources of the Department of
Veterans Affairs.