Legislative Update Report - February 10, 2007

[boardman]

Legislative Update - CDVA - February 10, 2007

A number of veterans interest bills have been introduced in the State Legislature. The following is the first of a series of reports on bills which will soon be referred to the legislative committees.

AB 279 Unlawful demonstrations: military funerals. (Bob Huff, City of Industry)Would make it an infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding $250, for a person to engage in disruptive activity at a funeral of a member or former member of the Armed Forces during the time period beginning one hour prior to the funeral and ending one hour after the conclusion of the funeral.
This bill is very similar to a bill that was introduced in 2006 (AB 2707, Keene) which was initially passed by the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary, but failed passage in the Committee on Public Safety. However, the proposed penalties are greatly reduced from the previous proposal.
There appears to be an opinion by many of the State Legislators that any state legislation on this subject is not necessary because of two bills which were passed by Congress in 2006 and signed by the President. H.R. 5037 prohibits disruptive acts at military funerals conducted at National Cemeteries, and S. 4042 has similar prohibitions related to funerals of members or former members of the Armed Forces at all cemeteries. However, it would be expected that it would be difficult for local police agencies to enforce a federal law but they would be directly responsible for enforcing a state law, so this bill is still considered by the veterans community to be very necessary.

ACTION REQUESTED: In order for this bill to be passed, it will need to have wide support among the legislators. Districts, Posts and Auxiliaries are requested to encourage their members to send communications to their representatives in the State Assembly and the State Senate and ask them to be co-authors of this bill.
Members of the State Assembly are listed at: http://www.califveterans.com/State%20Assembly.htm
Members of the State Senate are listed at: http://www.califveterans.com/State%20Senate.htm
Information provided on these pages include both the mail address and e-mail or other electronic mail addresses.

AB 296 Military and Veterans (benefits). (Mary Salas, Chula Vista; Chair, Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs)
Would require the Governor’s Advisory Council on Military Affairs, to study the critical issues facing veterans and members of the National Guard, and to make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature on actions that may be necessary to support and otherwise attend to the needs of those men and women that serve or have served in the National Guard or United States Armed Services.
This is the first bill, on veterans issues, to be introduced by the new Chair of the Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The bill is very similar to a bill that was passed by the Legislature in 2006 (AB 2750, Pedro Nava) but vetoed by the Governor, and has basically the same purpose. The Governor stated in his veto message that he had established the Governors Advisory Council on Military Affairs, which will coordinate and communicate state and federal policy impacting California’s relationship with the U.S. Military, including personnel and their families; and he had appointed the Governors Advisor of Military Affairs to coordinate the development of state policies that are crucial to the military. This bill would basically make it a legislative mandate for the Governor’s Advisory Council to carry out the functions that the Legislature would have assigned to a special commission that would have included representatives of the veteran service organizations among its membership.

Complete information on all state legislation involving veterans issues is available at the website: http://www.califveterans.com

National Legislation: H.R, 551 Home Ownership for American Veterans (CAL-VET Program)
Currently, there are still only 19 committed supporters for this bill:
Rep Davis, Susan A. [CA-53] Rep Howard L. Berman, [CA-28]
Rep Brian P. Bilbray, [CA-50] Rep Ken Calvert, [CA-44]
Rep Dennis A. Cardoza, [CA-18] Rep Jim Costa, [CA-20]
Rep Sam Farr, [CA-17] Rep Bob Filner, [CA-51]
Rep Wally Herger, [CA-2] Rep Michael M. Honda, [CA-15]
Rep Tom Lantos,[CA-12] Rep Zoe Lofgren, [CA-16]
Rep Doris O. Matsui,[CA-5] Rep Jerry McNerney,[CA-11]
Rep Lucille Roybal-Allard,[CA-34] Rep Adam B. Schiff,[CA-29]
Rep Ellen O. Tauscher,[CA-10] Rep Henry A. Waxman,[CA-30]
Rep Lynn C. Woolsey,[CA-6]

It is still very urgent that our members communicate with their Representatives in Congress who are not on this list and push them to become co-sponsors of this bill. Members of Congress are and their addresses are listed at: http://www.califveterans.com/Congress.htm

Bill Manes, Director, Legislative/PAC
Department of California