BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1258|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1258
Author: Wolk (D) and Correa (D), et al.
Amended: 8/24/12
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/10/12
AYES: Correa, Cannella, Berryhill, Calderon, Negrete
McLeod, Rubio, Lieu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 38-0, 5/30/12
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Dutton,
Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman,
Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu,
Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio,
Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Department of Veterans Affairs: monitoring
outcomes for
veterans: Director of Employment Development:
disclosure of information
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SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Veterans
Affairs (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.
Assembly Amendments incorporate additional changes in
Section 1095 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, proposed
by AB 174 and SB 691 that would become operative only if
this bill and either or both of those bills are chaptered
and become effective January 1, 2013, and this bill is
chaptered last.
Assembly Amendments (1) delete language that states, for
the purpose of ensuring the adequacy of services being
provided to veterans and that the needs of veterans are
being addressed in California; (2) add language that
states, for the purpose of assessing the status of veterans
in California, for monitoring the quality of programs
intended to serve those veterans, and to guide
decisionmaking on how to improve those services; and 3)
make other technical changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Establishes DVA, which is responsible for administering
various programs and services for the benefit of
veterans.
2.Ensures the information obtained in the administration of
the Unemployment Insurance Law is for the exclusive use
and information of the Director of the Employment
Development Department in the discharge of his or her
duties and is not open to the public.
3.Requires the director to permit the use of specified
information for specified purposes, and allows the
director to require reimbursement for direct costs
incurred.
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4.Provides that a person who knowingly accesses, uses, or
discloses this confidential information without
authorization is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill:
1.Requires DVA to develop outcome and related indicators
for veterans for the purpose of assessing the status of
veterans in California, for monitoring the quality of
programs intended to serve those veterans, and to guide
decisionmaking on how to improve those services.
2.Specifies that indicators shall reflect the following
issues, including, but not limited to, employment and
employment-related information such as earnings,
incidence of suicide, higher education including access
to higher education, involvement with the child welfare
system, and involvement with the criminal justice system.
3.Authorizes the DVA to receive any data, the access to
which is not restricted by any state or federal law, that
is necessary to develop outcome and related indicators as
specified, including, but not limited to, data held by
other state agencies or departments.
4.Directs DVA to prescribe a manner in which to ensure the
confidentiality of information in the possession of the
department received pursuant to this section, that is
equal to, or greater than, the protections in place for
data received by other state agencies or departments.
5.Permits DVA to establish one or more advisory bodies to
guide and inform the selection of outcome and related
indicators and the strategy for developing and reporting
those indicators, as determined by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs. An existing state entity that involves
diverse representation of state and local veterans,
including, but not limited to, the California Interagency
Council on Veterans, may act as an advisory body for
purposes of this section.
6.Requires the DVA to report to the Senate and Assembly
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Veterans Affairs Committees, on or before March 1, 2015,
all of the outcome and related indicators developed by
the department. The report shall also include
recommendations on ways to establish a system for
monitoring those indicators on a continual basis,
including additional staffing or technology that might be
necessary, as well as any regulatory or fiscal barriers
that may hinder future progress on the development of a
monitoring system.
7.Specifies that the report required to be submitted shall
be submitted in compliance with Government Code Section
9795.
8.Specifies that the requirement for submitting a report is
inoperative on March 1, 2019, pursuant to Government Code
Section 10231.5.
Background
The Federal Veterans Administration (VA) is backlogged over
one million cases in admitting veterans into its system.
This means that often veterans are not treated in the
meantime. As a result that means veterans with mental
health issues are going untreated by the Federal
Government.
In May of 2011 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals labeled
VA's treatment of veterans with mental health issues as
"unchecked incompetence" and then ordered a complete
overhaul of the VA mental health system.
Veterans represent a disproportionate percentage of those
who commit suicide. 18 veterans per day are committing
suicide, and VA has said it identifies 1,000 suicide
attempts per month. It is believed that one out of five
veterans returning from Iraq will have Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder.
There is no state system for mental health treatment,
mental health is a local issue. Since there is not
necessarily consistent treatment at the county level, then
there is no guarantee that a veteran who is not receiving
treatment from the VA will be treated locally. Treatment
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depends on the county mental health plan.
Veterans represent a disproportionate percentage of those
who are unemployed. Testimony before the Senate Veterans
Affairs Committee by the California Military Department in
2011 put unemployment at over 20 percent for the Army
National Guard veterans and 28 percent for Air National
Guard veterans.
State agencies have been reluctant to share, and in some
cases even to gather, statistics about veterans within
their purview. AB 716 of 2009 (Huber) would have allowed
DVA to enter into MOUs with state agencies to collect this
data. However, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill as
unnecessary.
Because of hurdles that veterans now face and because
information is not shared, a new Interagency Council on
Veterans now exists by executive order of the new governor.
Comments
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 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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor
general fund costs to CDVA to identify, develop, and report
on outcome and related veteran status and outcome
indicators over the next two years. Assuming the equivalent
of one-half of a mid-range personnel-year for two years,
the annual cost would likely be in the range of $45,000.
Subsequent to the actual requirements of this bill, the
development of an ongoing system to monitor developed
indicators would likely be significant, in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/12 )
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California Association of Veteran Service Agencies
California Senior Legislature
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/28/12)
Department of Finance
RM:n 8/28/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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