BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 469|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 469
Author: Aanestad (R)
Amended: 4/22/09
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/14/09
AYES: Denham, Correa, Wiggins, Negrete McLeod, Cedillo,
Wyland, Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Veteranscemeteries: fees
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the fee for the interment
of the spouses and children of honorably discharged
veterans in state-owned and operated cemeteries to be
waived if the cemetery administrator determines that the
families of the spouses or children do not have sufficient
means to pay for the costs of interment.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for the establishment
and operation of certain state-owned and operated
veterans'cemeteries. Existing law authorizes honorably
discharged veterans and their spouses and children to be
interred at these cemeteries, and provides for a fee to be
charged for each spouse or child interred at the cemetery,
as specified.
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SB 469
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This bill:
1.Auhorizes the fee for the interment of the spouses or
children of eligible veterans in a cemetery operated by
the State of California may be waived if the cemetery
administrator determines that the families of the spouses
or children do not have sufficient means to pay for the
costs of interment.
2.Requires any costs for the interment of the spouses or
children of eligible veterans who received a waiver shall
be paid from non-state funds.
3.Requires the cemetery administrator to seek
reimbursements, if any are available, from federal,
county, and other local agencies to offset any fees lost
as a result of the waiver.
4.Authorizes the cemetery administrator to solicit private
donations to offset any fees lost as a result of the
waiver.
Background
According to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
analysis, in 1889 AB 50 (R.S. Johnson-R) was enacted and
required California's counties to give indigent veterans
proper burials in non-pauper graves.
On Veterans'Day 2005, California opened its first
veterans'cemetery. Some families have been denied burial
in the cemetery because of an inability to pay burial fees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/5/09)
American Legion, Department of California
Sons of the American Legion
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
AMVETS, Department of California
Missing in America Veterans Recovery Project
Shasta county Veterans Affiliated Council
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : For 119 years California has
required counties to provide indigent veterans with a
proper burial based on the premise that those who served
their country deserved better than the anonymous obscurity
of a mass grave that had been reserved for criminals in
past centuries. Present reality is that poor or indigent
veterans are forbidden to be in a county pauper's grave but
not necessarily allowed to rest in eternity next to their
shipmates, squad leaders, or squadron leaders. The
author's office believes that this bill will provide a
solution to this iniquity at no cost to the state.
TSM:cm 5/5/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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