Legislative Update Report - June 10, 2007

[boardman]

Legislative Update Report - California Veterans Affairs - June 10, 2007

The State Legislature passed another deadline under the Rules – Friday, June 8, was the last day to pass bills out of the house of origin. That is, the Assembly had to pass all bills that had been introduced in that house this year, and the Senate had to do the same for bills that had been introduced there. Failure to meet this deadline generally means that the bill would be dead. Committees of both houses will now return to the hearing rooms on Monday, June 11, to take up the bills which are still active.

Of the bills which had been passed by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, the following bills have now been passed on the Assembly floor and sent to the Senate:

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 418 Vehicles: fees: deployed National Guard member. (Lori Saldana, San Diego)
Would provide an exemption from license fees for a vehicle owned by a member of the National Guard who has been deployed to a location outside of the state in support of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.

AB 581 Military personnel: Combat Stress Support Team Program. (Mary Salas, Chula Vista)
Would require the Military Department to create 2 Combat Stress Support Teams, one in the north and one in the south, to provide emergency crisis counseling, referral and personal support, combat stress evaluations, and mental health support for state military personnel and their families. Both teams would have one psychologist and one clerical staff.
It is a rather sad commentary that 4 of the 5 Republicans on the Appropriations Committee made this proposal a partisan affair and voted against the bill. They included Mimi Walters (Laguna Hills), Doug LaMalfa (Redding), Bill Emmerson (Rancho Cucamonga), and Sharon Runner (Lancaster).

AB 767 Student financial aid: veterans and dependents. (Mimi Walters, Laguna Niguel)
Provides for waiver of fees, including enrollment fees, registration fees, differential fees, or incidental fees, at Community Colleges and State Universities, for veterans who received education benefits under the Federal Montgomery GI Bill, and who have no benefit months remaining under that program. Veterans who entered military service while resident of California are eligible, or have served on active duty as members of the California National Guard, are eligible for the state benefits.

The following bills which were previously reported as being passed by the Senate Committee on Appropriations have now been passed by the Senate:

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 829 Veterans benefits (Cal-Vet Program). (Mark Wyland, Carlsbad/San Juan Capistrano)
Existing law limits the amount that the department may expend for purchasing a mobilehome that is to be sited in a mobilehome park to $125,000. This bill would raise that amount to $175,000.

In at least a couple of instances, the authors of bills which failed to receive approval from the Appropriations Committee are hijacking their own bills for other purposes.
SB 983 was on the subject of proposing benefits for postsecondary education programs for members of the California National Guard. After the bill was rejected by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, it was gutted and amended to provide for technical changes to the Military and Veterans Code concerning the Office of the State Adjutant General, California National Guard. It is currently waiting for approval from the Rules Committee to go back for additional committee hearings.

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