BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1258 (Wolk) - Veterans
Amended: April 12, 2012 Policy Vote: VA 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: April 30, 2012
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1258 requires the Department of Veterans'
Affairs (DVA) to establish a system in conjunction with the
Employment Development Department (EDD) to monitor the outcome
of veterans, and to report to the Legislature annually beginning
March 1, 2015.
Fiscal Impact: Approximately $300,000 - $400,000 one time, and
$20,000 annually. General Fund.
The Department of Veterans Affairs does not currently have a
data base system with the capacity to collect and analyze the
information to monitor outcomes for veterans. Preliminary
estimates range between $300,000 to $400,000 to build a data
base system that will allow DVA to collect the information from
other departments and then complete the required analysis.
Ongoing costs for reporting are unknown but likely to be minor.
Federal law prohibits Unemployment Insurance (UI) grant funds
from being used to pay any of the costs of making a disclosure
of UI information. Therefore, EDD will need reimbursement from
DVA for all costs associated with the disclosure of wage
information. Those costs are estimated to be less than $20,000
annually and would be based on the actual number of requests.
Background: Although there are numerous federal and state
benefits available for California veterans, there appears to be
a disconnect between those veterans and their ability to
actually obtain available benefits. Additionally, there is no
current system that tracks California veterans and monitors the
benefits they receive.
In August 2011, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-9-11
SB 1258 (Wolk)
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which created the California Interagency Council on Veterans and
ordered that the Secretaries of the Labor and Workforce
Development Agency, California Volunteers, the Business
Transportation and Housing Agency, the Health and Human Services
Agency, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
the Adjutant General of the Military Department, and the
Directors of the Employment Development Department, the
Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of
Rehabilitation, and the Department of Housing and Community
Development are appointed as members of the California
Interagency Council on Veterans. The purpose of the Council is
to identify and prioritize the needs of California's veterans,
and to coordinate the activities at all levels of government in
addressing those needs. The Council has held several meetings
to date, and in February brought together more than 130
representatives from federal, state, and local organizations to
discuss ways to streamline the process to enable veterans and
their families to claim benefits and services they have earned
through military service.
Proposed Law: SB 1258 does the following:
a) Requires the DVA to establish a system for monitoring
outcomes for veterans including employment and
employment-related earnings, incidence of suicide, higher
education, and involvement with the child welfare system
and with the criminal justice system.
b) Authorizes the DVA to receive data from other state
agencies or departments as long as access to that data is
not limited by state or federal law.
c) Requires the DVA to ensure confidentiality of the
information it receives from other departments.
d) Authorizes DVA to establish advisory bodies as
necessary, and to use the California Interagency Council on
Veterans as an advisory body.
e) Requires DVA to provide a progress report to the
Legislature by March 1, 2015, and to report annually
beginning March 1, 2016 on the outcomes identified by the
department.
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f) Requires the Director of EDD to release quarterly wage
data to the DVA.
SB 1258 is intended to provide a mechanism that will allow the
state to track veterans and the benefits they obtain such as
employment, length of employment, college attendance, as well as
whether the veterans have been reported to other state agencies
for instances relating to suicide, child welfare instances, or
involvement with the criminal justice system. Once the data is
identified, future programs can be initiated that will assist
veterans in getting the benefits they need and are eligible to
receive under both existing state and federal programs.
Proposed Author Amendments: The author has proposed amendments
to correct an incorrect code reference as follows: On page 9,
line 24, change "712" to "713"; and to add coauthors.