BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1565
Author: V. Manuel Pérez (D), et al.
Amended: 8/4/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 4-2, 6/24/14
AYES: Hueso, Correa, Lieu, Roth
NOES: Knight, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-14, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Department of Aging: grants: LGBT veteran
services
SOURCE : Los Angeles LGBT Center
Veterans for Peace Jon Castro Chapter 19
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Director of the Department
of Aging (CDA) to provide grants, to the extent appropriations
are made for this purpose, to nonprofit organizations with
experience providing services and training that are culturally
competent and sensitive to issues relating to the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This bill also
requires nonprofit organizations receiving those grant funds to,
among other things, provide training, outreach, and education to
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agencies, individuals, and other appropriate entities that
provide services to veterans who are elder and LGBT.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law provides a broad range of
benefits and services to veterans of the United States Armed
Forces, delivered primarily through the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), but also through other federal and some
state agencies.
Existing state law:
1.Provides a modest array of benefits and services to veterans
of the U.S. Armed Forces, delivered primarily through the
California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), but also
through other state agencies.
2.Establishes and funds a system for assisting veterans in
applying for and managing their federal and state veterans
benefits, which includes federal claims representation by
county veterans service officers (CVSOs).
This bill authorizes the Director of CDA to provide grants as
follows:
1.To nonprofit organizations that demonstrate experience in
providing culturally competent services and training.
2.To nonprofit organizations to provide outreach to elder
veterans who are LGBT, to refer, as appropriate, elder, LGBT
veterans to agencies, individuals, and other appropriate
entities that provide services to elder, LGBT veterans and to
provide training, outreach, and education to, and coordinate
with, agencies, individuals, and other appropriate entities
that provide services to elder, LGBT veterans.
3.Employing a request for proposal process in awarding the
grants.
4.To the extent appropriations are made available for the
program.
Background
Veterans benefits . The federal VA's Veterans Benefits
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Administration administers a variety of benefits and services
that provide financial and other forms of assistance to
servicemembers, veterans, their dependents and survivors. These
include monetary payments, education and training, home loans,
life insurance, and vocational rehabilitation. In addition, the
VA's Veterans Health Administration provides health care to
eligible veterans.
The State of California also provides benefits to veterans, but
one of the most significant state benefits is assistance in
filing and managing claims for federal veteran benefits.
LGBT veterans . As with any other demographic cohort within the
state's senior citizen population, older veterans are in the
time of life when the needs for health care and high levels of
living assistance are intensified. Federal veterans payments,
including pensions, disability compensation, and "aid and
attendance," are vital to helping senior veterans on fixed
incomes live in safety and dignity. Furthermore, federal VA
health care may be their best health care option for senior
veterans.
Older veterans (60 and older) are those who performed their
military service between World War Two and the Vietnam Era. By
definition, their service came long before the September 2011
change in Department of Defense policy, which now allows open
service by LGBT members. Older gay and lesbian veterans served
within different cultural and legal paradigms under which, had
their sexual orientation been revealed during military service
in the 1940s through 1980s, and perhaps even under the
now-defunct "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" period (1994-2011), the
career or personal consequences were likely to be serious at a
minimum, and perhaps catastrophic.
According to the author's office and the sponsors, the
psychological impact of closeted military service experienced by
many older LGBT veterans was such that it followed them into
civilian life, rendering many so unwilling to reengage the
experience that they even opted not to claim the veterans
benefits they had earned.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center, this bill's co-sponsor, serves more
than 3,000 senior members of the local LGBT community. A recent
survey of their clients revealed that 22.7% had served in the
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military, but only 4% were receiving veterans benefits. As
representative of the situation, the Los Angeles LGBT Center
offers the following story about a WWII veteran:
Jack Murphy (a pseudonym) clung to a net attached to a raft
for three days after the ship he was on was destroyed by the
Imperial Japanese Navy. In his written account of the ship
sinking, "I remember lashing myself into the net to keep from
drowning as I slept?Finally, on the third day after sinking,
an LCI found our raft." Now 87, Murphy is one of just a
handful of still-living survivors of his ship's sinking. He
has faced medical issues as a result of the experience and he
and his partner struggle financially. Murphy, however, was
too traumatized by both the experience of living in close
quarters on the ship and the sinking of the vessel that he
determined to never apply for his benefits as a veteran. Last
year, spurred by the threat of losing their home to
foreclosure, Murphy and his partner came to a benefit workshop
at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The Center offered a safe
space and social workers who help facilitate conversations
with benefit counselors. Murphy did receive VA benefits
including a quadrupling of his monthly income, back pay,
access to VA medical care and the peace of mind that he and
his partner would not lose their home.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Annual administrative expenses of $63,603 (General Fund).
Unknown appropriation for future grant funding (General Fund).
CDA estimates the need for 0.6 personnel year. First year costs
result in startup activities including developing contracts,
requesting proposals, and posting award notices. Ongoing costs
include contract oversight activities and administering the
grants.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/12/14)
Los Angeles LGBT Center (co-source)
Veterans for Peace Jon Castro Chapter 19 (co-source)
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American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officer
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Jewish War Veterans - Department of California
Military Officers Association of America, California Council of
Chapters
Military Order of the Purple Heart - Department of California
Reserve Officers Association of the United States - Department
of Golden West
Veterans of Foreign Wars - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-14, 5/19/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla,
Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Lowenthal, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John
A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Beth Gaines, Grove,
Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Logue, Maienschein, Patterson, Wagner,
Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dahle, Donnelly, Linder, Mansoor, Melendez,
Nazarian, Nestande, Waldron, Vacancy
AL:k 8/15/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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