BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
JEFF DENHAM, CHAIRMAN
Bill No: SB 1387
Author: Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
Version: As Introduced
Hearing Date: April 13, 2010
Fiscal: Yes
Consultant: Donald E. Wilson
SUBJECT OF BILL
Clean up language for the California Veterans' Board.
PROPOSED LAW
1. Add a requirement that one member of the Veterans'
Board must have expertise in administering hospitals.
2. Change the parameters of the resident board member
so that it rotates amongst the homes that have
independent living care program beginning with the
oldest veteran home.
3. Make the board subject to the per diem laws as set
by the state commission.
4. Prevent the board from being involved in daily
operations of the California Department of Veterans'
Affairs.
EXISTING LAW AND BACKGROUND
1. In 1946 the legislature created the Veterans' Board
to set the policies of the California Department of
Veterans' Affairs (CDVA).
2. The seven members of the board are required to be
veterans.
3. The Veterans' Board is to set the policy of the
department according the Military and Veterans' Code
(MVC) section 72. "The California Veterans' Board
shall determine the policies for all operations of the
department."
4. The structure of the board within the department
allows for veterans with knowledge of veterans issues
to set policy rather than bureaucrats who may or may
not be aware of issues affecting veterans.
5. Assembly Bill 2933 of 2000 (Assembly Veterans'
Affairs Committee) created MVC Code 66.5 and required
that one of the seats on the board was to be filled by
an individual with expertise in real estate mortgages
and another seat to be filled by an individual with
expertise in senior health care.
6. Senate Bill 1858 of 2002 (Knight) amended MVC Code
66.5 and required one seat to be filled by an
individual with an accounting or auditing background.
7. In 2004 the governor attempted to consolidate power
within the executive branch by abolishing the
Veterans' Board as part of the California Performance
Review (CPR) proposal. The proposal would have
eliminated much of the State Senate's oversight
through its confirmation of appointees.
COMMENT
1. RECOMMENDED AMENDMENT - Some concern has been
stated that if this bill as proposed is passed, could
be misconstrued by some to remove the Veterans'
Board's authority to set and enforce policy. The
intent of the bill is to guarantee that board members
do not use their influence to micromanage regular
workday operations within the department. Therefore,
the following amendment is recommended - "Page 3, line
16, Strike comma, add period, strike rest of line and
strike line 17."
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2. If the committee is not comfortable with that
amendment concerns could also be dealt with in the
following manner - "The California Veterans' Board
shall determine the policies for all operations of the
department, but shall not micromanage so as to
interfere with the day to day operations of the
department's employees."
3. The following language could be considered and
would further clarify the legislature's intent, the
Center Joint Unified School District in Sacramento and
Placer Counties has in its policies the following
language to deal with board members who attempt to
micromanage -
a) "Understand the distinctions between
Board and staff roles, and refrain from
performing management functions that are the
responsibility of the Superintendent and staff."
b) "Understand that authority rests with
the Board as a whole and not with individuals."
The committee may wish to consider including
this language.
4. MVC section 68 currently sets the per diem that
veteran board members will receive at $50 per diem per
meeting. This bill would instead have the amount paid
to board members be set by the state commission that
already sets per diem payments for other boards.
5. Since 2000 the legislature has required that
certain seats on the Veterans' Board be filled by
persons with specified experience in order to
guarantee some real world knowledge of those areas
that the board oversees. When all the veterans' homes
are completed there will be a total of eight homes
that provide some sort of independent living care.
Requiring a member of the board to have such expertise
continues the legislature's recent precedent.
6. Completed homes will have a combination of
independent living and assisted living. However not
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all homes will have both. Those that need assisted
living may be unlikely to consistently make long trips
to veterans board meetings, meaning residents would be
unrepresented if the representative is an assisted
living resident. Therefore this bill makes a change
to the parameters of those who can serve to those that
are in independent living to guarantee that residents
of homes can have a greater chance of having a
consistent voice on the board.
SUPPORT
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
OPPOSE
None received
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