BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 723
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 3, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 723 (Correa) - As Amended: April 23, 2013
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 7-0
Veterans Affairs 8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Employment Development Department (EDD)
and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), on or before
January 1, 2015, to jointly present a report to the Legislature
containing best practices by state governments around the nation
in facilitating the credentialing of veterans by using their
documented military education and experience.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, absorbable costs to EDD and DCA to complete this report.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the California Research Bureau's report:
Overview of Veterans in California (March 2013), California
has approximately 1.9 million veterans. Of these, about
185,000 (or 9.7%) are women. Almost one million are over the
age of 60 (52.3%). Most live in Southern California counties,
and are heavily clustered in Los Angeles (323,431 in 2012),
San Diego (222,348 in 2012) and Orange counties (132,529 in
2012).
According to the author, "The recession has taken a tremendous
toll on the economy and returning veterans are competing with
age cohort peer, many of whom enter the weakened job market
with the advantage of freshly earned college degrees. To make
things worse, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and
Afghanistan and ongoing troop reduction in each military
branch make it increasingly difficult for young service
SB 723
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members to reenlist, forcing more of them into the uneven
competition for scarce civilian jobs. While the unemployment
rate among individuals who are not veterans in about nine
percent, the unemployment rate for Post-9/11 veterans is 12
percent. Among the youngest veterans, those aged 18-24 who
comprise 12.5 percent of the Post-9/11 veteran population, the
unemployment situation is even more dire. Nationally more than
30 percent of these men and women are unemployed."
This bill requires EDD and DCA, on or before January 1, 2015,
to jointly present a report to the Legislature containing best
practices by state governments around the nation in
facilitating the credentialing of veterans by using their
documented military education and experience.
2)Pending state audit report on employment opportunities for
veterans . The State Auditor (SA) is currently conducting an
audit that "will provide independently developed and verified
information related to EDD's efforts to assist veterans in
finding employment and will include, but not be limited to,
identifying the roles and responsibilities of various federal,
state, and local agencies in providing employment assistance
and job training to veterans."
The scope of the audit also includes a review of EDD's
effectiveness in providing assistance and job training
programs to veterans, including a review of specific programs
such as one-stop career centers and the veterans employment
related assistance program. The audit is expected to be
completed in the fall of 2013.
3)Related legislation . AB 1268 (Perez), pending in the Senate
Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, establishes the
Veterans Workforce Development and Employment Office (Office)
within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency for the
purpose of coordinating veterans' workforce services.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081