BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 806
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 25, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

             SB 806 (Committee on Veterans Affairs) - As Amended:  August 
                                      15, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                             PERSS Vote:5-0
                       Veterans Affairs                       9-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY 

          This bill extends, until January 1, 2015, the statute of 
          limitations for the recovery of overpayments made to a state 
          employee on a leave of absence for active military duty as a 
          member of the California National Guard (Guard) from three years 
          to six years from the date of overpayment.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable administrative costs, particularly to the State 
          Controller's Office.  Costs will be offset to an unknown degree 
          by recovering overpayments.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  According to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, 
            overpayments to Guard personnel have been well documented over 
            the last nine months and their investigations continue to find 
            discrepancies with state military pay, with documented 
            discrepancies dating back to 2008 or earlier.  The author 
            contends this bill, by extending the statute of limitation by 
            three years, will allow the state to recover overpayments 
            discovered as part of the investigation.  

            The author notes the new Adjutant General has only been 
            recently appointed and is still investigating these records 
            and at this point, even if he finds malfeasance, it is likely 
            he will find it too late to do anything about it.

           2)Background  .  Existing law provides that a state employee who 








                                                                  SB 806
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            is granted a military leave of absence for active duty, whose 
            continuous state service is not broken by a permanent 
            separation, is entitled to receive his or her salary for a 
            period not to exceed 30 calendar days in any one fiscal year.  


           3)Current law  .  Existing law also allows the state to recover 
            overpayment of funds to personnel as long as the proceedings 
            are initiated within three years from the date of the 
            overpayment.  Extending the period may present difficulties 
            for employees to confirm or refute a notice of overpayment 
            after six years.  Six years may be a lengthy period for people 
            to keep appropriate records, especially for service members 
            who may have had to move for multiple deployments.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081