BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1931
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1931 (Gorell)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
VETERANS AFFAIRS 8-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Cook, Pan, Atkins, Block, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Gorell, Nielsen, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Williams, Yamada | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Ammiano, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Establishes the California Veterans Services and
Workforce Development Division (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, as specified. Requires the
administrative and support staff responsible for the
administration of the specified programs to be transferred from
the Employment Development Department (EDD) to the Division, and
would require the costs of the transfer to utilize existing
resources of the Department. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Division 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.
2)States that the Division shall do all of the following:
a) Coordinate with other state agencies, including, but not
limited to, the California Interagency Council on Veterans,
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; and,
AB 1931
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b) Administer the programs and services described in the
federal Jobs for Veterans State Grant Program, including,
but not limited to, overseeing the federal Local Veterans'
Employment Representatives program (LVER), and the
Transition Assistance Program (TAP), as currently
administered by the Employment Development Department
(EDD). The Division shall work with staff from the EDD to
develop a plan whereby responsibility for the
administration of these programs shall be transferred from
the EDD to the Division. The development of the plan shall
be completed on or before May 1, 2013.
3)Requires the Division to inform other state agencies and
officials that are involved in the implementation and
administration of veterans services programs when any changes
in existing programs are required, or new programs are
established that provide assistance and benefits to veterans.
4)Requires that those agencies and officials report to the
Division when those changes occur or new programs are
established.
5)Requires the Division to collaborate with the California
Interagency Council on Veterans to implement any further
change to the delivery of veterans services not prescribed by
the plan in 2) above to implement this section.
6)Directs that all administrative and support staff responsible
for the administration of TAP and the LVER shall be
transferred from the EDD to the Division.
7)Directs that any costs associated with the implementation of
these transfers shall utilize existing resources of the
Department, as the operational cost of these programs utilizes
funding from the Jobs for Veterans State Grant program, as
prescribed within the United States Department of Labor.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA)
will incur one-time administrative costs, likely in the low
hundreds of thousands of dollars, to establish and organize the
new Division and transition the specified programs and staff
from EDD to the new Division, and ongoing costs in the range of
$150,000 to coordinate and collaborate with other state agencies
AB 1931
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providing veterans services. EDD would likely incur one-time
transition costs associated with the relocation of staff and
programs to the CDVA. There are approximately 180
federally-funded positions at EDD involved in the impacted
programs.
COMMENTS :
Job Training and Employment Service to Veterans. Currently,
California receives $18 million dollars annually from the United
States Department of Labor to pay for approximately 180
workforce training staff. Assigned to positions within the EDD,
these federally funded staff are dedicated to serving the needs
of veterans. Some of the staff are stationed in Sacramento,
while others are spread throughout the state at the EDD's
one-stop job centers.
As a part of "Operation Welcome Home," a program from the
previous administration for California veterans, the EDD hired
approximately 325 limited term employees beginning January 2010
to make up the Cal-Vet Corps. EDD used these personnel to help
newly discharged veterans access the benefits and services they
need to successfully enter the civilian workforce. This program
has been discontinued under the current administration.
In addition to the efforts outlined above, the state currently
spends in excess of $500 million in a variety of job training
efforts. Those programs, while not targeted exclusively at
serving veterans, would be available for most veterans to access
if they meet the eligibility requirements of the programs.
The California EDD is responsible, in coordination with the
California Workforce Investment Board, for administering a
federal Department of Labor Veterans Employment Training grant.
The Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) operated under the
federal rules and regulations but no state regulations have been
created to codify this program.
Through the EDD's One-Stop system, veteran customers may elect
self-service, facilitated self-help, or staff-assisted
one-on-one service. Most veterans are able to use the
self-service systems and will self-identify as veterans to
establish their eligibility for veterans' priority. The Local
Veterans Employment Representative and DVOP staff members are
AB 1931
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available at One-Stop Career Centers to provide facilitated
self-help or staff-assisted service to veterans who require
additional assistance. Local Veterans Employment Representative
and DVOP staff screen veterans for potential barriers to
employment and identify the need for additional services. At
each One-Stop center, LVER and DVOP staff will raise veterans'
issues, including efforts to expand information provided to
veterans regarding available services.
The Transition Assistance Program is a federal program that was
created to assist military personnel that are preparing to
separate or retire. This program is a cooperative effort
between Department of Labor's Veterans Employment Training
Service, the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
(USVA). This program was instituted in 1990 and has provided
job preparation assistance to over 2 million separating and
retiring members of the military.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550
FN: 0003998