Legislative Report – End of 2023 Legislative Year

By Seth Reeb and Dana Nichol, Reeb Government Relations

The California State Legislature has adjourned for the 2023 legislative year. Many bills were signed into law by the Governor. (Photo: Alex Proimos)

The California State Legislature adjourned for the 2023 legislative year on September 14. Legislation that survived the legislative process to that point were sent to the Governor for his signature or veto. The Governor had until October 14 to review all of those bills and sign or veto. Below is a listing of the bills that were signed in to law by the Governor.

No bills that were supported by the Legion were vetoed.

Since 2023 is the first year of the 2023-24 legislative session, next year will have a combination of “2-year bills” and “Second-year bills”.

2-Year Bills: Bills introduced in the first year of the session can be carried over in to the next year, provided they did not fail passage in a committee. Usually, these bills were “parked” in their house of origin because it was found they needed more time for the various parties to the bill to work out the bugs, reach agreements, work on amendments, etc. These bills need to pass out of their house of origin by January 31 of the second year. If a bill made it out of its house of origin in the first year, then was parked, it is not constrained by the January 31 deadline in the second year.
Second-year bills: New legislation may be introduced in the second year of the session. These bills only have that one year to move through the process. There is no 2-year option for these bills. All legislation that did not advance to the Governor by the end of the legislative year automatically dies.

AB 46-Ramos, the bill that sought to exempt military retirement pay and SBP from the state income tax was held under Submission in the Senate Appropriations Committee on September 1. Normally, this action is a de facto death sentence for a bill. However, in the case of AB 46, the Governor’s Department of Finance (DOF) indicated to the author that the bill idea had merit, but a way needs to be found to reduce the hit to the state’s revenues. Assemblyman Ramos has committed to working next year to find a solution in the budget process or some other way to alleviate DOF’s concerns. AB 46 is not bound by the January 31 deadline since it passed its house of origin and is in the Senate. The Legion is in support of AB 46.

To view all legislation text, amendments, analyses, votes, and status from 2000 to the present: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billSearchClient.xhtml

“Chaptered” means the Governor signed the bill in to law and the bill will be chaptered in to the state’s codes.

AB 298

(Mathis R) Honoring Our Blind Veterans Act.

Status: 10/4/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 299, Statues of 2023.
Location: 10/4/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current law would authorize a nonprofit organization that represents blind veterans, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan, construct, and maintain a braille American flag to serve as a monument to the blind veterans of California and the United States in the State Capitol Building. The bill would specify duties for the Department of General Services in connection with the planning, construction, and maintenance of the monument. The bill would prohibit the construction of the monument until the Joint Rules Committee of the California Legislature approves and adopts a plan for the monument and the committee and the Department of Finance determine that sufficient private funding is available to construct and maintain the monument.
Position: Support

AB 322

(Mathis R) Veteran and California National Guard Supplemental Orientation Act of 2023.

Status: 10/13/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 801, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/13/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Would, commencing no later than the 2025-26 academic year, would require each campus of the California State University and the California Community Colleges, and would request each campus of the University of California, to include within first-year student and transfer student orientations the location and contact information of the campus point of contact for students who are veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States and members of the California State Guard and the California National Guard, and their dependents, make available in hard copy form at the location of the campus point of contact a document that includes information on polices, resources, and services for these students and their dependents, as specified, and post the document, along with other information available to these students and their dependents, on the campus’s internet website.
Position: Support

AB 531

(Irwin D) The Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2023.

Status: 10/12/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 789, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/12/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Would provide that projects funded by the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2024 that provide housing for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness and who are inherently impacted by or at increased risk for medical diseases or conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other communicable diseases and are disbursed in accordance with the Multifamily Housing Program, or projects that are disbursed in accordance with the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, are a use by right and subject to the streamlined, ministerial review process. The bill would define use by right for these purposes to mean that the local government’s review of the project does not require a conditional use permit, planned unit development permit, or other discretionary local government review or approval that would constitute a project subject to the approval process in CEQA.
Position: Support

AB 569

(Garcia D) California State University: Cybersecurity Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships Pilot Program.

Status: 7/27/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 117, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 7/27/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California State University to select any number of California State University campuses, with preference given to campuses that have or are developing regional pipeline programs in cybersecurity with the California Community Colleges, to participate in the pilot program through an application and selection process. Current law requires each selected campus to create a pilot program with goals and metrics, measure the impact and results of its pilot program, and annually share the impact and results with the chancellor’s office. Current law requires the chancellor’s office to annually report the impact and results from each selected campus’s pilot program to the Legislature. This bill would require the chancellor’s office, on or before July 1, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature on the pilot program, as provided.
Position: Support

AB 883

(Mathis R) Business Licenses: United States Department of Defense SkillBridge Program.

Status:10/7/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 348, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/7/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs under the direction of the Director of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the administration of the various boards under its jurisdiction that license and regulate various professions and vocations. This bill would additionally require, on and after July 1, 2024, a board to expedite, and authorize a board to assist, in the initial licensure process for an applicant who supplies satisfactory evidence to the board that the applicant is an active duty member of a regular component of the Armed Forces of the United States enrolled in the United States Department of Defense SkillBridge program, as specified, and would provide that regulations to administer those provisions be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position: Support

AB 988

(Mathis R) Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act: veteran and military data reporting.

Status: 10/8/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 460, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/8/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current federal law, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, designates the 3-digit telephone number “988” as the universal number within the United States for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, maintained by the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, and the Veterans Crisis Line, which is maintained by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Current law creates a separate surcharge, beginning January 1, 2023, on each access line for each month, or part thereof, for which a service user subscribes with a service supplier. Existing law sets the 988 surcharge for the 2023 and 2024 calendar years at $0.08 per access line per month and beginning January 1, 2025, at an amount based on a specified formula not to exceed $0.30 per access line per month. Current law authorizes the 911 and 988 surcharges to be combined into a single-line item, as described. Existing law provides for specified costs to be paid by the fees prior to distribution to the Office of Emergency Services. The Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act creates the 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund and
requires the fees to be deposited along with other specified moneys into the fund. This bill would require an entity seeking moneys from the fund to also include the number of individuals who used the service and self-identified as veterans or active military personnel in its annual expenditure and outcomes report.
Position: Support

AB 1350

(Soria D) Veterans: memorials.

Status: 10/10/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 684, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/10/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Would create the Capitol Park Veterans Memorial Fund. The bill would continuously appropriate the fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing memorials in the State Capitol. The bill would make the department responsible for administering the fund. The bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to, in consultation with the California Veterans Board, prioritize memorials that do not have formal support from another body for their maintenance, including, but not limited to, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of General Services to collaborate pursuant to a memorandum of agreement to carry out these provisions.
Position: Support

AB 1361

(Hoover R) Property taxation: veteran’s exemption: preliminary application.

Status: 10/8/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 473, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/8/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current property law, pursuant to the authorization of the California Constitution, provides a disabled veteran’s tax exemption on specified property, as described. Current law sets forth procedures to claim property tax exemptions. This bill would authorize a county assessor to provide written or electronic determination of preliminary eligibility for the disabled veteran’s tax exemption. The bill would make related findings and declarations. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 205.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code proposed by SB 82 to be operative only if this bill and SB 82 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Position: Support

AB 1386

(Gabriel D) Veterans housing: tenant referrals.

Status: 10/11/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 760, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/11/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: The Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 requires the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (referred to collectively as “the departments”) to establish and implement programs that focus on veterans at risk for homelessness or experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness, as specified. In this regard, current law requires the departments to establish and implement programs that, among other things, ensure projects combine housing and supportive services. Current law requires the departments to ensure at least 50% of funds awarded for capital development are used to provide housing to veterans with extremely low incomes, and requires that at least 60% of units funded targeting extremely low income households are supportive housing. This bill would authorize an entity tasked with making referrals of units targeted to extremely low income households to submit a petition to the departments requesting authority to lease the qualified unit to a secondary tenant, as defined, if a qualified entity is unable to locate, match, or otherwise place a qualified tenant in a qualified unit with 60 days of the unit becoming available. The bill would require a qualified unit that is leased to a secondary tenant to be redesignated to an area median income level commensurate with the income level of the secondary tenant and would require the secondary tenant to pay rent commensurate with their household income’s percentage of the area medium income. The bill would, 12 months after a petition is approved, require the next available comparable unit to be rented to a qualified tenant at 30% of the median income.
Position: Support

AB 1452

(Mathis R) State Capitol: Iraq Afghanistan Kuwait Veterans Memorial monument.

Status: 10/7/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 371, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/7/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Existing law provides for various memorials and monuments on the grounds of the State Capitol. Existing law requires the Department of General Services to maintain state buildings and grounds. This bill would authorize a nonprofit organization representing veterans of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan, construct, and maintain a monument to the veterans of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait on the grounds of the State Capitol. The bill would require the nonprofit organization to submit a plan for the monument to the Joint Rules Committee for its review and approval. The bill would require the monument to be funded exclusively from private sources. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Support

AB 1462

(Patterson, Jim R) Veteran overdose deaths.

Status: 10/13/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 844, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/13/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Would require the State Department of Public Health to access data within the electronic death registration system to compile a report on veteran drug overdose deaths in California and require the department to annually provide that report to the Legislature and the Department of Veteran Affairs on or before March 15 each year. The bill would require the report to include a cross-tabulation of the specified data and compare it to the data from the previous year. The bill would also require the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard to reflect overdose deaths by veterans.
Position: Support

AB 1605

(Gallagher R) High schools: military services: United States Space Force.

Status: 9/1/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 142, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 8/29/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current law prohibits each school district offering instruction in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, that provides on-campus access to employers, from prohibiting access to the military services. Existing law defines “military services” for these purposes to include the United States Army, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Coast Guard, or any reserve component of those federal forces, the National Guard, the State Guard, and the active militia. This bill would additionally prohibit each county office of education and charter school offering instruction in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, that provides on-campus access to employers, from prohibiting access to the military services. The bill would expressly include the United States Space Force in that definition.
Position: Support

AB 1745

(Soria D) Public postsecondary education: veterans: waiver of mandatory systemwide tuition and fees.

Status: 10/10/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 695, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/10/2023 – A. CHAPTERED
Summary: The Donahoe Higher Education Act prohibits campuses of the segments of the public postsecondary education system in the state from charging mandatory systemwide tuition or fees to specified students who apply for a waiver, including a child of any veteran of the United States military who has a service-connected disability, has been killed in service, or has died of a service-connected disability, where the annual income of the child, including the value of any support received from a parent, does not exceed the national poverty level. This bill would instead require that the annual income of the child not exceed the state poverty level, as defined. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to provisions relating to this waiver of mandatory systemwide tuition and fees. To the extent these provisions would add additional duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Position: Support

SB 82

(Seyarto R) Property taxation: disabled veterans’ exemption: eligibility letters.

Status: 10/11/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 773, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/11/2023 – S. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current property tax law provides, pursuant to the authorization of the California Constitution, a disabled veteran’s property tax exemption for the principal place of residence of a veteran or a veteran’s spouse, including an unmarried surviving spouse, if the veteran, because of an injury incurred in military service, is blind in both eyes, has lost the use of 2 or more limbs, or is totally disabled, as those terms are defined, or if the veteran has, as a result of a service-connected injury or disease, died while on active duty in military service. This bill would require a county assessor to accept an electronically generated letter of service-connected disability, as defined, in lieu of an original letter of service-connected disability, at the discretion of the claimant, for purposes of verifying eligibility for the above-described exemption.
Position: Support

SB 228

(Roth D) Civilian youth opportunities program.

Status: 10/10/2023 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 703, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 10/10/2023 – S. CHAPTERED
Summary: Current law authorizes the Adjutant General to conduct a civilian youth opportunities program, known as the “National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program,” consisting of a residential program and post-residential mentoring to serve at-risk teens in areas of the state, including, but not limited to, the San Joaquin Valley and northern California, as specified. This bill would require the Adjutant General to additionally conduct that program in western Riverside County.
Position: Support

SJR 4

(Ochoa Bogh R) Veteran health care.

Status: 7/7/2023 – Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 117, Statutes of 2023.
Location: 6/26/2023 – S. CHAPTERED
Summary: Would urge the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to locate satellite Veterans Health Administration medical clinics on or near state veterans home campuses and further urges the United States Congress to provide federal funding for the operation of such satellite clinics.
Position: Support

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Author: caLegion Contributor

The above article may contain opinions which are the author's own and may not necessarily reflect an official stance taken by The American Legion Department of California. We do our best to vet any information posted to the website. Please email webteam@calegion.org with any changes and/or corrections to anything published here.

Legislative Report – End of 2023 Legislative Year

Author: caLegion Contributor

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