BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 882
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Date of Hearing: April 26, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Paul J. Cook, Chair
AB 882 (Cook) - As Amended: April 25, 2011
SUBJECT : Department of Veterans Affairs: consolidation of
services to veterans.
SUMMARY : This bill establishes the California Veterans Services
and Workforce Development Division within the Department of
Veterans Affairs ("Department") 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. Specifically, this bill :
1.Establishes a new division within the Department called the
California Veterans Services and Workforce Development
Division ("Division").
2.Requires the Division to coordinate with other state agencies
that serve veterans to ensure that information about veterans
assistance programs and benefits is made available to all
state agencies that serve veterans in the state.
3.Transfers administrative control and responsibility to the
Division for the Transitional Assistance Program (TAP) from
the Employment Development Department ("EDD") to the division.
All EDD TAP administrative and support staff shall be
transferred to the
Division per the plan referenced below.
4.Requires the Division and the EDD to prepare a plan for the
transfer of the TAP by April 12, 2012.
5.Establishes a pilot project in Los Angeles and San Diego
Counties and the City and County of San Francisco for the
purposes of collaborating with the Employment Development
Department and the California County Veteran Service Officers
("CVSO") of those respective counties in order to more
effectively achieve increased compensation and pension benefit
claims for veterans, through the established One-Stop Centers
as a part of the Local Veteran Employment Representative
program ("LVER"), as prescribed by the United States
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Department of Labor.
6.Requires that the Department enter into agreements with the
counties in order to combine the resources and personnel of
the CVSOs, the Department, and the EDD. The purpose of the
project is to have the EDD one-stops share information with
CVSOs.
7.This bill sunsets on January 1, 2016 unless extended by
another statute.
EXISTING LAW:
1. Establishes the Department within state government and
sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not
limited to, administration of veterans benefits programs.
Also, existing law establishes within the Department, the
Veterans Service Division.
2. 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Texas Outreach Model
In Fiscal Year 2010, total U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
("USDVA") expenditures in California (including all veterans
benefits, staff salaries, operating expenditures and
construction) were $9.1 billion. Of this amount $3.8 billion was
in the form of compensation and pensions. In Texas, total USDVA
expenditures totaled $9.4 billion where $4.5 billion was in
compensation and pension benefit claims.
The genesis for the introduction of previous legislation, AB
2143 and this, a similar successor, was the success of the Texas
Model. In a span of two years, Texas increased the amount of
veterans receiving federal benefits from 12.3 percent to 16.1
percent.
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In 2005, the Texas veteran workforce program ranked 32nd in the
nation in veteran employment and retention. The following year,
legislation was passed to transfer the program from the Texas
Workforce Commission (TWC) to the Texas Veterans Commission
(TVC). Texas has an 81% veteran employment retention,
according to the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S VETERANS EMPLOYMENT
TRAINING SERVICE, "Performance Outcomes by State" quarterly
report ending September 30, 2010. For the same period,
California had a 72% rate.
Texas' prior poor performance was attributed to a lack focus and
limited ability to provide direct assistance to unemployed
veterans. The veteran representatives at the Texas One Stops
served a variety of client groups including veterans. Once the
workforce programs were transferred, the TVC convened a veteran
stakeholder focus group to develop clear performance standards
and reporting requirements to help guide the program. In
addition, the veteran representatives at the One Stops were
directed to exclusively serve veterans as guided by the newly
established standards. In 2007 Texas had increased the
percentage of veterans receiving benefits to 16.1%, as compared
to 12.3% of California veterans.
Currently, California has approximately 1,971,959 veterans,
while Texas is home to approximately 1,693,79. Currently,
California secures approximately $1,929/ per veteran in
compensation and pensions, while Texas secures approximately
$2,634/per veteran.
Employment Service to Veterans
The TAP is a federal program that was created to assist military
personnel that are preparing to separate or retire. TAP is a
cooperative effort between Department of Labor's Veterans
Employment Training Service, the Department of Defense (DOD),
Department of Homeland Security and the USDVA. This program was
instituted in 1990 and has provided job preparation assistance
to over 2 million separating and retiring members of the
military.
If a separating military member is stationed within the U.S.,
the TAP classes are given by local DVOP/Local Veteran Employment
Representatives on base. When the member is stationed overseas
the DOD provides TAP classes. The curriculum covers three days
of classroom instruction and provides information on a variety
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of topics from career assessment to health issues.
The Department's Operational Capabilities
The mission of the Department is to serve these veterans and
their families by providing rehabilitative, residential, and
medical care services to the State's aged or disabled veterans;
providing veterans with direct low-cost loans to acquire farms
and homes; and providing veterans and their families with aid
and assistance in presenting their claims for federal, state,
and local veterans' benefits.
The Department does not consider its role to include providing
direct services that are already offered by other agencies;
rather, the services the Department provides to veterans exist
within a
larger service delivery system that it relies on its Veterans
Services Division to connect and coordinate with. This service
delivery system consists of a variety of key players that
provide direct services to veterans, including the USDVA,
certain state agencies, veterans' service organizations, and
counties.
The October 27, 2009 audit report published by the California
State Auditor ("Audit") identified the Department of Alcohol and
Drug Programs, the EDD, the Employment Training Panel, the
Department of Housing and Community Development, the Labor and
Workforce Development Agency, the Department of Mental Health,
and the Military Department as examples of other state entities
(besides the Department) that might serve veterans.
The Audit found that the California Department of Veterans
Affairs had collaborated with, or was making some efforts to
collaborate with all of those state entities. Since the
publication of the Audit, the Department has made agreements
with the Department of Motor Vehicles: to establish a new source
of veteran contact information with the purpose of outreach to
veterans and their families, the Department of Mental Health to
address continuum of prevention, early intervention, treatment
and infrastructure support, the Department of Health Care
Services to operate a Public Assistance and Reporting
Information System pilot program to identify veterans and their
dependents or survivors who are receiving Medi-Cal benefits, and
the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
to support veteran outreach efforts.
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The Audit reveals areas of challenge at the Department
The Audit found that the Department provides few direct services
to veterans, outside of its operation of the Veterans' Homes of
California and the CalVet Farm and Home Loan program, and that
the Department has extremely limited interaction and few formal
agreements with other state agencies and departments that could
provide additional services to veterans if done in a coordinated
and efficient manner.
The Audit additionally noted that the Department's strategic
plan covering the 2007-08 to 2011-12 fiscal years, inclusive,
was incomplete and has not formally assessed veterans' needs,
has not included key stakeholders in its strategic planning
process, and has not effectively measured its progress towards
meeting the goals and objectives identified in the plan.
The Audit additionally confirmed that California's veterans
participate in federal disability and pension benefits at rates
that are significantly lower than those in other states with
large veteran populations. These disability payments are paid
directly to the veterans and generate a significant contribution
to California's economy.
Policy Considerations:
The changes this bill would create explore whether the successes
of the "Texas Model" might work here in California. Proposed
are a pilot project and the transfer of the TAP from EDD to the
Department.
The pilot project brings the EDD, the Department, and the CVSOs
to the table to
collaborate in order to more effectively address veterans'
needs. This approach may promote sufficient change/improvement
such that more sweeping changes in overall structure are not
indicated. Pilot projects, however, take time, money and effort
to implement and may be especially challenging in a time of
increasing demand for services and budget challenges.
The bill shifts administrative control and responsibility for
the TAP program to the Department and thus represents a small
shift toward the Texas Model of "housing" veterans programs in
one agency. This change moves the Department into the role of
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providing more direct services for veterans. Shifting personnel
and roles will have associated costs, potential disruption of
services, and other challenges the scale and duration of which
is unknown. After such transfer is complete, there is at least
some evidence in the form of the Texas Model, that improvement
will occur, however, it is difficult to predict to what extent
success in Texas is predictive of success in California.
Related Legislation
AB 557 (J.A. Perez) - This bill would create in state government
the California Interagency Council on Veteran Services and
Programs, composed of specified members, for the purpose of
bringing together key state agencies and departments, federal
officials, legislative representatives, local governments, and
stakeholder organizations to with the goal that the state's
programs that serve veterans are efficiently administered and
properly integrated with federal and local government and other
stakeholder organizations.
AB 1378 (V.M. Perez, 2010) - Implemented the federal Workforce
Investment Act, requiring fund recipient entities to meet
criteria indicative of competence in serving veterans. AB 1378
failed to pass through the Senate.
AB 1569 (Committee on Veterans Affairs, 2010) - This bill, as
ultimately amended, was essentially the same measure as the
current AB 557. AB 1569 failed to pass through the Senate.
AB 2143 (Gilmore, 2010) - This bill, as introduced, was
essentially the same measure as the current bill, AB 882. It
was substantially amended and the original language was inserted
into AB 748 of 2010 (Gilmore) while in the Senate. AB 748
failed to pass through the Senate.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Mental Health Directors Association.
Opposition
AB 882
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550