The legislative bill introduction deadline for the California Legislature was Feb. 21. This means all legislation has been introduced, and all of the bills will now be sent to committees for a hearing date to be scheduled. Then we will begin to have public hearings.
Currently, we are still sifting through these bills to identify all legislation for relevance to veterans and the military.
So far, we have identified over 50 bills that may pertain to veterans and their families. I’ve included a list of bills that the Legion has taken a position on so far.
The legislature breaks for recess April 2-13.
During this break, it would be an excellent opportunity to go and meet with your elected officials to talk about legislation.
AB 160 (Voepel R) Employment policy: voluntary veterans’ preference.
Position: Support
Would enact the Voluntary Veterans’ Preference Employment Policy Act to authorize a private employer to establish and maintain a written veterans’ preference employment policy, to be applied uniformly to hiring decisions, to give a voluntary preference for hiring or retaining a veteran over another qualified applicant or employee. The bill would provide that the granting of a veterans’ preference pursuant to the bill, in and of itself, shall be deemed not to violate any local or state equal employment opportunity law or regulation, including, but not limited to, the anti-discrimination provisions of California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
AB 232 (Cervantes D) Veteran suicides: report and recommendations.
Position: Support
Current law requires the State Department of Public Health to implement an electronic death registration system and to access data within the system to compile a report on veteran suicide in California that includes information on the veterans’ ages, sexes, races or ethnicities, and methods of suicide. Current law requires the department to provide that report annually to the Legislature and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill would additionally require the report described above to include information on the veterans’ locations of residency and death, length and locations of service, branches of service, and occupations and industries or businesses.
AB 345 (Muratsuchi D) Natural resources: environmental justice: oil and gas: regulation of operations.
Position: Oppose
CEI (Californians for
Energy Independence) opposes.
Would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to create an environmental justice program within the agency to identify and address any gaps in existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of environmental justice. The bill, contingent upon funding for this purpose, would require the secretary to establish a grant-based reimbursement program to enable environmental justice and community groups to meaningfully participate in rulemaking and other regulatory processes at departments and entities within the agency.
AB 408 (Frazier D) Vehicles: disabled veterans. Position: Support
Would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to accept a certificate from a county veterans service officer or the Department of Veterans Affairs that certifies that the applicant for a special license plate or placard is a disabled veteran.
AB 694 (Irwin D) Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2020.
Position: Support
Would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2020 to authorize the issuance of bonds in an amount not to exceed $600 million to provide additional funding for the VHHPA. The bill would provide for the handling and disposition of the funds in the same manner as the 2014 bond act.
AB 1809 (Cervantes D) Disabled veteran business enterprises.
Position: Support
This bill would authorize a state agency to award a contract for services or information technology that has an estimated value of between $5,000 and $500,000 to a certified small business, including a microbusiness, or to a DVBE, as long as the agency obtains price quotations from 2 or more certified small businesses or 2 or more DVBEs. The bill would specify that a certified small business or DVBE that utilizes this process as an alternative to the competitive bidding requirements may not also receive the small business preference or the DVBE participation incentive.
AB 1911 (Maienschein D) State agencies: veterans.
Position: Support
The bill would require the state agency, through the intake form, to request permission from that person to transmit their contact information to the Department of Veterans Affairs so that the person may be notified of potential eligibility to receive state and federal veterans benefits.
AB 1935 (Voepel R) Veterans: mental health.
Position: Support
This bill would require the department to study suicide among women veterans and submit a report summarizing their findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than Jan. 1, 2022.
AB 2688 (Cervantes D) Veterans: veterans service officers.
Position: Support
Would appropriate $11 million from the General Fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs for allocation to counties for county veterans service officers based upon a workload unit performance formula to be developed by the department. This bill would also require the department to develop performance metrics to demonstrate the effective use of appropriated funds.
SB 364 (Stone) Property taxation: senior and disabled veterans.
Position: Support
This bill would provide that the inflation factor shall not apply to the principal place of residence, including a manufactured home, of a qualified veteran, as defined, who is 65 years of age or older on the lien date, was honorably discharged from military service, and meets specified requirements.
SB 588 (Archuleta) Public contracts: Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program.
Position: Support
This bill would require an awarding department, on a contract entered into on or after Jan. 1 2021, to withhold $10,000, or the full payment if it is less than $10,000, from the final payment on a contract until that certification is received by the awarding department.
SB 725 (Rubio) Veterans rental housing.
Position: Support
Current law creates the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014, to provide for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable multifamily supportive housing, affordable transitional housing, affordable rental housing, or related facilities for veterans and their families to allow veterans to access and maintain housing stability. This bill would require the department to establish a rental housing assistance program to provide financial assistance to veterans seeking rental housing, based on the needs of the veterans.
SB 907 (Archuleta) Child abuse or neglect investigation: military notification. Position: Support
Would require a county child welfare department investigating a case of child abuse or neglect to determine if the parent or guardian is an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States. The bill would authorize the county child welfare department to develop and adopt memoranda of understanding with military installations that would govern the investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect against active duty service members, as specified.
SB 1007 (Hueso) Personal income taxes: exclusion: uniformed services: retirement pay.
Position: Support
This bill would exclude from gross income retirement pay received by a taxpayer from the federal government for service performed in the uniformed services, as defined, during the taxable year.
SB 1018 (Chang) Veterans: Governor’s Memorial Certificate.
Position: Support
The bill would require the program to send a Governor’s Memorial Certificate to the survivors of any deceased veteran eligible for burial in a national or state veterans’ cemetery, and would require that certificate to be accompanied by information directing survivors to county veteran service offices.
SB 1071 (Wilk) Personal income taxes: exclusion: uniformed services: retirement pay. Position: Support
Would exclude from gross income specified amounts of retirement pay received by a taxpayer from the federal government for service performed in the uniformed services, as defined, during the taxable year.
Link to find more information on Legislation Bill info, votes, committee analysis:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/home.xhtml
For more information, contact Don Harper, chairman, Legislative Commission: govia@comcast.net
Author: Seth Reeb
Seth Reeb of Reeb Government Relations is veterans legislative advocate for the American Legion Department of California and a member of El Dorado Post 119.
