Bill Text: CA AB171 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Department of Veterans Affairs: consolidation of services to veterans.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB171 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB171-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 171	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chávez

                        JANUARY 24, 2013

   An act to add Section 90 to the Military and Veterans Code,
relating to veterans.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 171, as introduced, Chávez. Department of Veterans Affairs:
consolidation of services to veterans.
   Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which
is responsible for administering various programs and services for
the benefit of veterans.
   This bill would establish the California Veterans Services and
Workforce Development Division within the Department of Veterans
Affairs for the purpose of coordinating and administering veterans
assistance programs in the state, and would require the division to
perform various functions and duties relating to the coordination and
administration of veterans assistance programs, as specified. The
bill would require the administrative and support staff responsible
for the administration of the specified programs to be transferred
from the Employment Development Department to the division, and would
require the costs of the transfer to utilize existing resources of
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 90 is added to the Military and Veterans Code,
to read:
   90.  (a) The California Veterans Services and Workforce
Development Division is hereby established within the department for
the purpose of coordinating and administering veterans assistance
programs in the state. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall have
authority over the division.
   (b) The division shall do all of the following:
   (1) Coordinate with other state agencies, including, but not
limited to, the California Interagency Council on Veterans, that
provide benefits and assistance to veterans to ensure that
information about veterans assistance programs and benefits is made
available to all state agencies that serve veterans in the state.
   (2) Administer the programs and services described in the federal
Jobs for Veterans State Grant Program, including, but not limited to,
overseeing the federal Local Veterans' Employment Representatives
Program (LVER), the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), and the
Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP), as currently administered
by the Employment Development Department (EDD). The division shall
work with staff from the EDD to develop a plan whereby responsibility
for the administration of these programs shall be transferred from
the EDD to the division. The development of the plan shall be
completed on or before May 1, 2014.
   (3) Ensure that other state agencies and officials that are
involved in the implementation and administration of veterans
services programs are informed when any changes in existing programs
are required, or new programs are established that provide assistance
and benefits to veterans, and require that those agencies and
officials report to the division when those changes occur or new
programs are established.
   (4) Collaborate with the California Interagency Council on
Veterans to implement any further change to the delivery of veterans
services not prescribed by the plan in paragraph (2) to implement
this section.
   (c) (1) In complying with this section, all administrative and
support staff responsible for the administration of TAP, DVOP, and
the LVER shall be transferred from the EDD to the division.
   (2) Any costs associated with the implementation of these
transfers shall utilize existing resources of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, as the operational cost of these programs utilizes
funding from the Jobs for Veterans State Grant program, as prescribed
within the United States Department of Labor.