BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2490
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 9, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                AB 2490 (Butler) - As Introduced:  February 24, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Public 
          SafetyVote:  5-0
                        Veterans Affairs                               8-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires a parole agent to be appointed as a veterans' 
          service officer (VSO) at every California Department of 
          Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facility. The VSO would 
          help inmate-veterans pursue veterans' benefits and coordinate 
          with federal, state, and local veterans' services.   

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Annual moderate GF costs, potentially in the lows hundreds of 
          thousands of dollars, to the extent the requirements of this 
          bill increase the current workload at each CDCR facility. There 
          are 33 state prisons. Setting aside CDCR's four juvenile 
          facilities and 44 camps jointly operated by CDCR and CAL FIRE or 
          L.A. County, if the duties of a VSO at each facility increased 
          the workload of one parole agent by 10%, annual GF costs would 
          exceed $300,000.  

          Given, however, that the objectives of the VSO are consistent 
          with the objectives of institutional parole agents, these costs 
          could be considered an existing component of CDCR's mission and 
          therefore absorbable. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . The author's intent is to attempt to ensure 
            inmate-veterans are aware of, and are positioned to obtain, 
            all benefits earned as U.S. veterans. 

            According to CDCR, about 3,500 inmates are veterans.  








                                                                  AB 2490
                                                                  Page  2


           2)Suggested amendments  . The author may wish to amend the bill to 
            clarify that it applies only to the state's 33 prisons, and 
            delete the reference to parole agents, as not all institutions 
            use parole agents for the purpose envisioned in the bill. 

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081