BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 296 (Correa) - County Veteran Service Officers
Amended: April 1, 2013 Policy Vote: VA 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 296 appropriates $9 million to the Department
of Veterans Affairs and designates the allocation of those funds
between the county veteran services officers (CVSOs) and veteran
service organizations (VSOs).
Fiscal Impact:
$ 9 million appropriation to Department of Veterans Affairs
(General)
The $9 million will be allocated as follows: $7.6 million to
CVSOs and $1.4 million to VSOs.
Background: Recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have
resulted in a substantial increase in returning California
veterans who may be eligible for federal veterans' benefits.
The county veterans' service officers are an initial local point
of contact for veterans and provide assistance to them in filing
claims to obtain benefits from the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs.
The cost of maintaining CVSOs is shared between the counties and
the state. The Department of Veterans Affairs provides an annual
report of the amount of monetary benefits paid to veterans by
the federal government that were attributable to the assistance
of CVSOs. The Department of Finance uses this information in
considering the amount of the annual budget provided for CVSOs
which can be up to $11 million if approved in the annual budget
act. The budget appropriation has been $2.6 million for several
years.
The CVSO funds that are provided to the Department are disbursed
each fiscal year on a pro rata basis to counties that have
SB 296 (Correa)
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established and maintain a county veteran service office in
accordance with the staffing level and workload of each county
veteran service officer under a formula based upon performance
that is developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for
these purposes.
There are currently over 7 million veterans, families and
survivors living in California. California's veterans can
receive claims assistance at federal VA regional offices located
in Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego. However, approximately
65% of California's veterans live outside these regional office
service areas and rely on the CVSOs for assistance. The CVSOs
provide assistance to veterans in 53 main offices in 48 cities
throughout the state. During FY 2011-12, CVSOs assisted in
obtaining new veterans benefits of nearly $347 million. Most of
these benefits comprise ongoing awards such as disability
payments that will continue into future years.
Veterans' service organizations are non-profit organizations
established to support veterans and their families. Examples of
these organizations are the American Legion, Disabled American
Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, and Vietnam Veterans
of America.
Both CVSOs and VSOs are specially trained to provide expert
assistance with federal VA claims. This assistance is provided
at no cost to veterans and their families. Federal funding is
not provided for the claims assistance.
Proposed Law: SB 296 appropriates $9 million to the Department
of Veterans Affairs. Of this amount, $7.6 million will be
allocated to counties to fund the services of county veterans'
service officers. The money will in part be used for increased
outreach to veterans that are unaware of benefits to which they
may be entitled and for assisting veterans in filing their
claims. The remaining $1.4 million will be allocated to
veterans' service organizations to support the services of
additional outreach to veterans that are unaware of benefits
they may be entitled to receive.
AUTHOR'S AMENDMENTS: Proposed author's amendments make
technical changes and add numerous co-authors.
SB 296 (Correa)
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