BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
BILL NO: SB 106 HEARING DATE: 4/9/13
AUTHOR: Monning
VERSION: As introduced
FISCAL: Yes
VOTE: 21
SUBJECT
California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord:
Endowment Fund.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law :
Authorizes the California Department of Veterans Affairs
(CalVet) to enter into a financial agreement to receive cash
advances in the existing Endowment Fund previously created to
help the proposed California Central Coast State Veterans
Cemetery at Fort Ord.
Provides that any such agreement is permissible so long as
no obligations of repayment are made to the state, and the
agreement is reviewed and performed in consultation with the
Department of Finance.
Authorizes CalVet to use money received from the prospective
federal grant, which is transferred to the Fund, to reimburse
the costs of developing and submitting the grant application,
to reimburse any cash advances made to the Fund.
This bill :
Provides that CalVet's statutory authorization to enter into
a financial agreement to receive cash advances into the
Endowment Fund is contingent upon that agreement not
requiring the state to repay or make payments on cash
advances.
Requires that the agreement is reviewed and approved by the
Department of Finance.
BACKGROUND
Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery
In 1991 the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission
(BRAC) recommended that the United States Army post at Ford Ord
be inactivated. The fort was closed in 1994. Part of the Base
Reuse Plan includes building a veterans' cemetery.
Traditionally, veterans' cemeteries have been federal
responsibilities, but as the last century came to a close the
federal government enacted a cost saving measure by offering to
build cemeteries but let states pay the maintenance costs in
perpetuity as was done with the now completed Redding cemetery -
California's first.
The federal government has proposed the same agreement for the
California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord,
saying the federal veterans' cemetery at Gustine in the Central
Valley is close enough and has enough room to relieve Washington
of any obligation to build a federal cemetery on the central
coast.
Under the federal Veterans Affairs State Cemetery Grants
Program, the federal government will fund up to 100% of the cost
of establishing, expanding, or improving state veterans'
cemeteries, including the acquisition of initial operating
equipment, if the state agrees to cover the administrative and
oversight costs in perpetuity.
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Subsequent legislative efforts to use the master development
plan to apply to the State Cemetery Grants Program have not been
successful due to the ongoing administrative and oversight
fiscal impact a state veterans' cemetery at Fort Ord would have
on the state's General Fund.
Once completed, the cemetery will serve all veterans, but will
be most convenient for the approximately 100,000 veterans and
their families living within the 75-mile radius, an area that
includes the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and
half of Santa Clara.
The estimated interment needs of that area's veteran population
are 5,600 burial and crypt sites for the initial 10 years. The
actual interment sites to be provided in this initial phase will
be approximately 2,800 burial and crypt sites.
The Phase I plan will develop 26 acres of the site. At a
minimum, the cemetery will provide approximately 11,500
gravesites in its 20-year build-out.
A federal grant program provides funds to build both initial and
follow-on phases, but the State of California is responsible for
maintaining the cemetery -- using moneys from an endowment fund.
AB 3035 (Laird, 2006) established an endowment to cover
maintenance costs -- prior to applying for grant funding for
construction. The endowment fund goal is $3.4 million. The
current strategy is to sell or lease a portion of the site not
required to meet burial needs for the next 100 years.
COMMENT
1.Author comments (paraphrased) : SB 1842 (2012) allowed CalVet to
enter into financial agreements to receive cash advances for
the California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort
Ord Endowment Fund.
The author introduced SB 106 at the request of the Governor's
Office. It clarifies that when CalVet enters into any financial
agreements to receive cash advances permitted by AB 1842, the
state shall not be required to repay or make payments on cash
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advances and that the agreement is reviewed and approved by the
Department of Finance.
2.Committee staff comments : At the end of the 2012 legislative
process, AB1842 generated minor concern that the language did
not clearly rule out the possibility of a state obligation to
repay a cash advance as if it were a loan. In response, the
author amended the bill, changing the "encumbrance" to become
"financial obligation." The author's office then stated, "There
will be no repayment obligation because any agreement with any
person or entity will be made with the foreknowledge that he,
she, or it will absorb the risk, which is why the last
amendment to this bill changed "encumbrance" to "financial
obligation."
Some lingering doubt may have caused the author and the
Governor's Office to further clarify this point via SB 106.
3.Related Legislation :
AB 1842 (Monning, Ch. 745, Stats. 2012)
(1) Authorizes the California Department of Veterans Affairs to
enter into a financial agreement to receive cash advances in
the existing Endowment Fund previously created to help the
proposed California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at
Fort Ord. (2) Provides such agreements are permissible so long
as no obligations of repayment are made to the state, and each
agreement is reviewed and performed in consultation with the
Department of Finance. (3) Authorizes CDVA to use money
received from the prospective federal grant, which is
transferred to the Fund, to reimburse the costs of developing
and submitting the grant application, to reimburse any cash
advances made to the Fund. Senate 37-0; Assembly 74-0.
AB 629 (Monning, Ch. 267, Stats. 2011)
Prior law required CDVA, in voluntary cooperation with the
Monterey County Board of Supervisors, the City of Seaside, the
Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA), and local agencies to design,
develop, and construct the California Central Coast Veterans
Cemetery at Fort Ord, as specified. The State Contract Act
requires projects that are not under the jurisdiction of
specified departments to be under the charge and control of the
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Department of General Services (DGS). This bill authorizes
CDVA, rather than DGS, to enter into an agreement with the FORA
for the veterans cemetery project to be under the sole charge
and direct control of the FORA. Senate 34-0; Assembly 78-0.
AB 1757 (Monning, Ch. 450 Stats. 2010)
(1) Requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs
(CDVA), in voluntary consultation with local governments and
stakeholders, to construct the California Central Coast
Veterans Cemetery at Ford Ord. (2) Authorizes CDVA to design,
develop, and construct the cemetery in phases. (3) Requires the
regulations established regarding burial eligibility to apply
to all state-operated veterans cemeteries, and limits burial to
dependent children of honorably discharged veterans. Senate
34-0; Assembly 76-0.
AB 3035 (Laird, Ch. 291 Stats. 2006)
Creates the California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at
Fort Ord Endowment Fund in the State Treasury and directs that
moneys in the Endowment Fund shall be allocated, upon
appropriation, to the Department of Veterans Affairs for annual
administrative and oversight costs of the cemetery. Senate
40-0; Assembly 79-0.
SB 1815 (McPherson, Ch. 771, Stats. 2000)
Ordered the development of the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery
Master Plan and appropriated $140,000 for the creation of a
Central Coast Veterans Cemetery Master Development Fund.
Senate 40-0; Assembly 74-0.
POSTITIONS
Sponsor: Author.
Support: American Legion - Department of California
AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service
Officers
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California State Commanders Veterans Council
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) - Department of
California
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
Oppose: None received
Analysis by: Wade Cooper Teasdale
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