Legislative Update Report - April 14, 2007

[boardman]

Legislative Update Report - California Veterans Affairs - April 14, 2007

The policy committees in the State Legislature have been busy the last couple of weeks with the tremendous number of bills they must review before the April 27 deadline. The following are some of the significant results related to veterans’ issues.

Bills passed by the Assembly Committee on Veterans Affairs:
AB 11 Vehicles: special license plates. (National Guard) (Chuck DeVore, Irvine.)
Provides for the issuance of special license plates by the department for an active member of the California National Guard and exempts license plates issued under the bill from the payment of a $40 application fee and a $30 transfer fee.

AB 138 Vehicles: veterans: parking. (Karen Bass, Los Angeles.)
Would authorize veterans displaying special license plates on their vehicles to park, without charge, in a state or local authority parking facility, a parking space in a time restricted zone of one hour or more, or a metered parking space. The special license plates include Pearl Harbor Survivor, Medal of Honor, Legion of Valor, American POW, Purple Heart.

AB 187 Veterans (burial costs, cemetery plots) (Alan Nakanishi, Sacramento)
Would: increase the amount that counties may pay for the burial or cremation of any indigent veteran to $350.

AB 257 Parks: veterans: park passes. (Joel Anderson, La Mesa)
Disabled veterans, with rating of 50 percent or higher, or a former POW, are eligible for permanent pass entitling the bearer to the use of all facilities, including boat launching facilities, in units of the state park system, for payment of $3.50 fee. This bill would eliminate the fee requirement and would additionally make a veteran who is a recipient of the Medal of Honor eligible for a pass.

Passed by Assembly Committee on Public Safety:
AB 282 Crimes: military decorations. (Paul Cook, Yucaipa)
Would provide that it is a misdemeanor for a person to falsely represent himself or herself to have been awarded any decoration or medal from the Armed Forces of the United States, the California National Guard, State Military Reserve, or Naval Militia, or any service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, with the intent to defraud.

AB 389 County veteran service officers: funding. (Mary Salas, Chula Vista)
Would appropriate $5,000,000 to the Department of Veterans Affairs for purposes of funding the activities of county veteran service officers.

Passed by Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance:
AB 7 Armed Service Members: consumer loans. (Ted W. Lieu, El Segundo; Lori Saldana, San Diego.)
Would make it unlawful under the California Finance Lenders Law and the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law to violate specified provisions of the John Warner National Defense Deposit Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, relating to "payday loans" to members of the Armed Forces.

Passed by Assembly Committee on Transportation:
AB 445 Vehicles: special license plates: disabled veterans. (Pedro Nava, Santa Barbara.)
Would provide for the issuance of special license plates to a veteran who has a service connected disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at 100 percent. Would exempt license plates issued under the bill from the payment of a $40 application fee and a $30 transfer fee.
These plates would not authorize the vehicle to use disabled parking spaces.

Passed by Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs:
SB 630 Veterans Homes. (Samuel Aanestad, Nevada City)
Appropriates additional state funds for construction of the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Home project and authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to borrow state funds pending receipt of the federal share of the construction costs. Also appropriates $30 million for construction of the veterans homes in Fresno and in Shasta County.

SB 983 National Guard: education benefits. (Lou Correa, Garden Grove)
Creates the California National Guard Education Assistance Program for the purpose of promoting recruitment and retention of Member of the California National Guard by providing reimbursement of approved postsecondary education costs.

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

Bill Manes, Legislative Officer
California State Commanders Veterans Council