BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1565
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1565 (V. Manuel Pérez)
As Amended April 22, 2014
Majority vote
VETERANS AFFAIRS 7-1 APPROPRIATIONS 12-3
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|Ayes:|Quirk-Silva, Dababneh, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Brown, Eggman, Fox, | |Bradford, |
| |Muratsuchi, Salas | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
|Nays:|Chávez |Nays:|Bigelow, Jones, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet)
to:
1)Review existing providers of transportation services to
veterans for the purpose of identifying those areas of the
state most in need of volunteer transportation providers for
veterans.
2)Compile a list, by county, of veterans' transportation
providers.
3)Make the list available on its Internet Web site and on mobile
devices, as specified.
EXISTING LAW establishes the CalVet, which is responsible for
administering various programs and services for the benefit of
veterans.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor General Fund costs to CalVet, less than
$30,000, to review, compile and post.
COMMENTS : Today, America's military veterans have specific and
growing transportation needs that threaten to undermine their
quality of life if left unmet. Health care visits - both of
AB 1565
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emergent and therapeutic nature - are the most obvious and
critical of these trips.
According to the author:
Two million veterans live in California, and many need
transportation services to access needed medical care
and related services, yet there exists no single
information source for veterans in California to find
out about affordable transportation services in their
communities.
A common assumption is that veterans' transportation
services are met through a network of federal and
state programs. In fact, veterans' transportation
needs are mostly delivered through locally-organized
volunteer programs. The decentralized nature of these
programs means that there is no consistent delivery
system or information access point to find out about
them.
AB 1565 will add Section 713 to the Military and
Veterans code to create a centralized information
point that veterans can access for purposes of
identifying service providers in their county that can
help them with their transportation needs. Having
direct access to information about veteran
transportation service providers in the state, posted
on one website and accessible through a mobile
application, will help veterans better identify and
coordinate their health-related trips.
According to "Transportation for America's Veterans and Their
Families" Report by the National Resource Center:
A pressing need which surfaced in the Washington State
Veterans Forum: A Symposium on Transportation Access
for Veterans, Military Personnel, and Their Families
was the need to improve communication to veterans,
their families, and their support networks about the
transportation-related options available to them and
how they may be used.
According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs:
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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans
Health Administration (VHA) Healthcare System provides
primary care, specialized care, and related medical
and social support to serve America's Veterans' health
and wellness needs? To enhance the VHA system, the
Central Business Office is launching a new
transportation program for immobilized and remote VA
patients to enhance existing programs implemented by
local VA Medical Centers. Veterans Transportation
Service (VTS) seeks to provide transportation services
to include vehicle routing/scheduling software for VA
Medical Facilities. The ride scheduling and routing
systems will include GPS modules for VTS vehicles.
Thus the United States Department of Veterans Affairs is also
interested in the issue raised by this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jenny Callison and John Spangler / V.A.
/ (916) 319-3550
FN: 0003463