Veterans' Issues

Veterans' Legislation

Veterans' Legislation

SB 135 (Florez-D) Inspector General for Veterans Affairs

Revises the existing definition of "peace officer" to include the Inspector General of the State Department of Veterans Affairs and any employee designated by the inspector general, provided that the primary duty of these peace officers is conducting reviews and investigations of veteran programs, as specified.

(In Senate Public Safety Committee)

SB 369 (Knight-R) Veterans' Homes of California: administration

Establishes the Division of Veterans' Health Services within the State Department of Health Services, beginning July 1, 2005, and vests administration of the Veterans' Homes of California in the division, as provided.

(In Senate Veterans Affairs Committee)

SB 385 (Morrow-R) Farm and home purchases: life or disability insurance

Increases the level of reserve which the State Department of Veterans Affairs is allowed to maintain under master agreements with insurance companies that provide life or disability coverage to participants in the Farm and Home Loan Program.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

SB 544 (Chesbro-D) Veterans: recorded documents

Requires, if any military veteran requests the recordation of any military discharge document, including a veteran's service form DD214, that the county recorder shall require the veteran to sign a form that acknowledges that the document becomes part of the official record of the county, and subject to inspection, as provided. Also provides, contingent upon the enactment of AB 1179 (Parra-D), that no copy of a recorded military discharge document may be issued except as provided by specified provisions of law proposed by that bill.

Chapter 301, Statutes of 2003

SB 561 (Knight-R) Veterans: administration

Transfers the administration of the Cal-Vet program from the State Department of Veterans Affairs to the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) as of July 1, 2004. Prior to the transfer, the bill requires CalHFA to convene a committee to formulate recommendations on how the agency should best administer the program.

(In Senate Housing and Community Development Committee)

SB 748 (McPherson-R) Veterans' cemeteries

Creates, until January 1, 2006, the Governor's Commission (Commission) on State Veterans Cemeteries within the State Department of Veterans Affairs, as specified. Requires the Commission to establish the need for state veterans' cemeteries, and locate and prioritize sites for the future construction of these cemeteries.

Chapter 466, Statutes of 2003

Similar legislation is AB 683 (Plescia-R), which is in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 764* (Morrow-R) Property tax: veterans' exemptions

Doubles the disabled veterans exemption, to $200,000. And for veterans with income of $40,000 or below, increases the exemption to $250,000. Also indexes the exemption amounts for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

(In Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

SB 809* (Morrow-R) Children of deceased or disabled veterans

Authorizes the State Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), for good cause, and based on the financial needs of a child who otherwise qualifies under this provision, to grant an exception to the annual income limit for that child. Requires the DVA to adopt and publish regulations defining the conditions under which an income limit exception may be granted under this provision.

(In Senate Education Committee)

SB 838* (Knight-R) Veterans' homes

Transfers primary responsibility for management of the design, construction and equipping of veterans' homes in West Los Angeles, Lancaster and Saticoy from the State Department of Veterans Affairs to the State Department of General Services.

(On Assembly Inactive File)

SB 965* (Aanestad-R) Veterans' Home of California

Requires that each Veterans Home of California site have an administrator recommended by the Secretary of the State Department of Veterans Affairs and appointed by the Governor, and makes several minor technical changes. Allows the City of Redding and the County of Shasta to borrow money from the Low and Moderate Income Fund for the acquisition of property for a veterans home, as specified.

Chapter 198, Statutes of 2003

SB 1008 (Machado-D) Veterans: contracts: disabled veteran business enterprises

Strengthens the sanctions that can be levied against businesses that fraudulently misrepresent their eligibility for disabled veteran business enterprise certification.

Chapter 632, Statutes of 2003

SB 1028 (Ashburn-R) Veterans: public records

Provides that any veteran's record that is recorded shall be confidential and that copies of the records may be furnished only to either the person who is the subject of the record upon presentation of proper photo identification, or to a county office that provides veterans' benefits services upon written request of that office. Requires a county recorder to keep an index of recorded veteran's records, which would be a public record subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

(In Senate Veterans Affairs Committee)

SCR 16 (Morrow-R) POW Recognition Day

Designates April 9, 2003, as POW Recognition Day in California.

Resolution Chapter 52, Statutes of 2003

SCR 25 (Johnson-R) Hire a Veteran Month

Proclaims the month of May "Hire a Veteran Month," and calls upon all employers to assist in developing more job opportunities for our veterans.

Resolution Chapter 41, Statutes of 2003

SCR 43 (Machado-D) Women Veterans' Highway

Designates a specified portion of State Highway Route 99 as the Women Veterans' Highway, and requests the State Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate plaques and markers so designating that portion of State Highway Route 99 and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect plaques and markers.

Resolution Chapter 129, Statutes of 2003

AB 189* (Cogdill-R) Sales and use taxes: exemption: veteran's organizations

Provides a sales and use tax exemption for fundraising-related sales of meals and food products by nonprofit veterans organizations.

Chapter 721, Statutes of 2003

AB 214 (Shirley Horton-R) Taxpayer contributions: Veterans Quality of Life Fund

Establishes the Veterans Quality of Life income tax checkoff to help support the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund maintained by administrators of the veterans homes.

(In Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 279* (Cohn-D) Farm and home purchases: life or disability insurance

Prohibits the reserves maintained by the State Department of Veterans Affairs from being more than 23 percent in excess of actuarial requirements plus the reasonable contingency reserve.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 322* (Parra-D) Disabled veteran's property tax exemption

Allows the principal residence of a disabled veteran who has qualified for the disabled veterans property tax exemption to maintain the exemption after the veteran no longer resides in the home because he/she has been confined to a care facility or hospital.

Chapter 278, Statutes of 2003

AB 323 (Parra-D) Nonprofit veteran service agencies.

Allows nonprofit agencies that serve homeless veterans to provide goods and services to state and local government agencies on a no bid basis.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 505 (Wiggins-D) Inspector General for Veterans Affairs

Allows the Inspector General (IG) for the State Department of Veterans Affairs to access all necessary records as required to perform his or her duty to undertake reviews and investigations. Includes within this definition of peace officer the IG and any employee designated by the inspector general, provided that the primary duty of these employees shall be conducting reviews and investigations of veteran programs.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 669 (Cohn-D) Public contracts: disabled veteran business enterprises

Requires that a small business, microbusiness, and disabled veteran business enterprise must perform a "commercially useful function," in relation to specified state contracts, and also imposes certain penalties for misrepresenting the performance of a commercially useful function.

Chapter 623, Statutes of 2003

AB 758 (Yee-D) Military Department: stress counseling

Requires the Office of the Adjutant General, in conjunction with others, as specified, to establish and maintain mandatory stress counseling for military personnel returning from combat.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 781 (Lieber-D) World War II internees: high school diplomas

Authorizes a school district or county office of education to retroactively grant a high

school diploma to an individual moved into an internment facility during World War II.

Chapter 130, Statutes of 2003

AB 1036 (Mullin-D) Veterans: Cal-Vet loans

Makes numerous changes to the Veterans Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974.

Chapter 441, Statutes of 2003

AB 1148 (Wyland-R) Vehicles: disabled veterans

Allows veterans to purchase disabled veterans' license plates if their total disability rating is based in part on their inability to be employed due to service-related disabilities.

(In Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 1179* (Parra-D) Public records

Prohibits county recorders from providing certified copies of military discharge papers (DD214s) except to specified persons and allows county recorders to accept faxed, notarized documents if specified information is present and photographically reproducible.

(In Assembly awaiting concurrence)

AB 1520 (Kehoe-D) Veterans' memorial

Creates the California Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Veterans' Memorial Commission (Commission) and provides for its composition and duties. Authorizes the design, construction, and dedication of a memorial at an unspecified site, authorizes the Commission to establish a schedule for its design, construction and dedication, to solicit designs and devise a process for selection of the final design, and to monitor construction. Requires that the funding for the memorial be from private contributions. Creates the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Veterans' Memorial Fund in the State Treasury. Requires the Commission to notify the Governor and the State Franchise Tax Board when the design, construction, and dedication of the memorial is complete. Repeals its provisions on January 1 of the year following that notification.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 1591 (Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee) County veteran service officers

Appropriates $3,250,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Veterans Affairs for disbursement to the counties for purposes of supporting county service officers and makes legislative findings and declarations in that regard.

(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1592 (Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee) California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program

Specifies that the State Department of General Services (DGS) is the administering agency of the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program, specifies the duties of DGS in meeting that requirement, sets standards for meeting the program's participation goals, and imposes reporting contracts on state departments that participate in the program.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 1594 (Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee) Discrimination: veterans

Makes legislative findings regarding the states homeless veteran population, and the multiple barriers that they face in transitioning from homelessness, unemployment, high rates of certain diseases, and high rates of physical and mental disabilities related to substance abuse. Specifies that providers of emergency shelters or transitional housing will be prohibited from restricting occupancy on the basis of military veteran status, in the same manner that such provider is prohibited from discriminating against a person because of sex or because the person is 24 years of age or younger. Thus, emergency shelters, transitional housing and shelters/housing that offer specialized treatment for substance abuse, or the long-term effects of homelessness will not be able to turn away qualified homeless veterans.

Chapter 776, Statutes of 2003

AB 1698 (Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee) Disabled veterans

Appropriates $200,000 from the General Fund to support construction of a memorial to disabled veterans in Washington D.C.

(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1736* (Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee) Veterans

Allows the State Department of Veterans Affairs to use state funds to equip, design and construct various veterans homes in anticipation of federal matching funds, as specified.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

AB 1756* (Assembly Budget Committee) State government

Enacts the statutory language in the area of the State Budget concerning general government issues. Among other things, this bill requires that the additional funds collected by the Veterans Home be used to repay any unpaid General Fund loans provided in prior fiscal years for the operation of that home, if the amount collected for those reimbursements for services provided in any fiscal year by a veterans' home exceeds the budgeted reimbursements for that home.

Chapter 228, Statutes of 2003

ACR 24 (Mountjoy-R) Blue Star Families Week

Recognizes the second week of March each year as Blue Star Families Week during any period of war or hostilities.

Resolution Chapter 10, Statutes of 2003

ACR 119 (Pacheco-R) Reserve Officers Training Corps

Recognizes the valuable contribution of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and recognizes and commends the ROTC cadets and all military personnel.

(In Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee)

ACR 121 (La Suer-R) Semper Fi Highway

Designates the section of State Highway Route 15 between State Highway Route 163 and Miramar Road in the County of San Diego as the Semper Fi Highway and requests the State Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate plaques and markers showing this designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost, to erect appropriate plaques and markers.

(In Senate Rules Committee)

ACR 122 (Dutton-R) 50th anniversary of the Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

Designates July 27, 2003, as the Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, and urges all the people of the State of California to observe the 50th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Day.

Resolves that Governor Gray Davis instruct all state departments, agencies, interested groups, organizations, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-mast on July 27, 2003, in memory of the Californians who died as a result of their service in Korea.

Resolution Chapter 107, Statutes of 2003

AJR 5 (Parra-D) Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Center

Memorialize the President and the Congress to take appropriate measures to facilitate the design and construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Center.

Resolution Chapter 20, Statutes of 2003

Index (in Bill Order)