Bill Text: CA AB1580 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Veterans' homes: Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-28 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Correa. [AB1580 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB1580-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1580 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Yamada
JANUARY 30, 2014
An act to amend Sections 1047, 1048, and 1049 of the Military and
Veterans Code, relating to veterans, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1580, as amended, Yamada. Veterans' homes: Morale, Welfare, and
Recreation Fund.
Existing law provides for the establishment of veterans' homes and
requires the administrator of a veterans' home to maintain a Morale,
Welfare, and Recreation Fund to be used, subject to the approval of
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to provide certain operations and
activities relating to the general welfare of the veterans.
These funds include proceeds from the California Veterans Homes
Fund, operations of the Veterans' Home Exchange, specified revenue
derived from the issuance of prisoner-of-war special license plates,
funds derived from golf course green fees and range ball fees,
donations, interest earned on invested funds, funds derived from the
estates of deceased members, and any other moneys or property
described under existing law, including, but not limited to, moneys
and properties received by the home from estate assets located
outside the home. Existing law requires the administrator to
prepare and submit itemized reports organized by category and
accounts for all funds deposited into, and expenditures made from,
the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund during the previous fiscal
year, as specified.
This bill would create the Veterans' Home Morale,
Welfare, and Recreation Fund in the State Treasury, to replace the
existing individual funds. The bill would require all moneys in each
existing veterans' home fund to be deposited into the Veterans'
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund. The bill would continuously
appropriate these moneys to the Department of Veterans Affairs to
provide for the general welfare of the veterans
residents living in state veterans '
veterans' homes. Moneys in the fund would be exempt from
specified provisions relating to the determination of administrative
costs owed by each state agency to the state. The bill would require
the department to develop standardized expenditure procedures
and regulations for the fund, as specified, and to provide
residents with a quarterly report on the expenditures made from the
fund on behalf of each home. The bill would also require the
department to prepare and submit the itemized reports, as specified.
The bill also would make technical and conforming changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
that the Department of Veterans Affairs promulgate rules and
regulations related to the administration of the Veterans' Home
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund through a stakeholder process
which includes residents residing within the Veterans' Homes of
California. It is the intent of the Legislature that these
regulations include a yearly budgeting process for moneys to be
expended at each home.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 1047 of
the Military and Veterans Code is amended to read:
1047. (a) (1) The Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare, and
Recreation Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. All moneys
in each Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund maintained by the eight
California state veterans' homes shall be deposited into the Veterans'
Home Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund and the
individual home funds shall be abolished. All references to the
"Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund" shall be deemed to refer to
the fund created by this subdivision.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all
moneys deposited into the Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare,
and Recreation Fund are continuously appropriated to the department
to provide for the general welfare of the veterans
residents living in the veterans' home
homes of California.
(3) Moneys deposited in the fund are exempt from the requirements
of Article 2 (commencing with Section 11270) of Chapter 3 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(4) (A) Moneys in the Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare,
and Recreation Fund may be distributed to the homes at the
discretion, and subject to the approval, of the secretary, to provide
for the general welfare of the veterans
residents living in state veterans' homes.
(B) For purposes of this section, "general welfare" includes, but
is not limited to, providing for operations of a canteen, hobby shop,
motion picture theater, library, band, and any other function that
is operated for the morale, welfare, and recreation of the
veterans residents , and to pay for newspapers,
chapel expenses, welfare and entertainment expenses, sport
activities, celebrations, and any other activity that is for the
morale, welfare, and recreation of the veterans
residents .
(5) For proposed expenditures of Veterans' Home Morale,
Welfare, and Recreation Fund moneys, the department shall
develop regulations and maintain guidelines whereby the
administrator for each home, in consultation with the
Veterans' Veterans' Home Allied Council
or another body representing the residents of the home,
and residents, shall submit proposed expenditures or
a proposed budget to the secretary for approval. Moneys from
the fund shall be allocated proportionally to each home, based upon
the census of the homes on July 1 of each year. Allocations from the
fund may be augmented by the secretary to meet specified budget
and identified needs.
(6) The department shall develop standardized expenditure
procedures and regulations for the Veterans' Home
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund in all homes, which shall
be in accordance with standard state contract and procurement
practices and rules. The department shall provide the residents,
through the administrator of each home, with a quarterly report on
the expenditures made from the fund on behalf of each home.
(b) Money in the Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare, and
Recreation Fund may not be expended for any of the following:
(1) Medical treatments or any other related treatment.
(2) Maintenance of the physical plant of the home, except
for capital improvements that directly enhance the quality of life
of the veterans living in the home.
(3) Any function, operation, or activity that is not directly
related to the morale, welfare, or recreation of the
veterans residents .
(c) Appropriations from the General Fund for the purposes
described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) may not be reduced for
the purpose of, or to have the effect of, requiring increased
expenditures from the Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare, and
Recreation Fund for those described purposes.
(d) The department shall prepare an itemized report that is
organized by category and accounts for all expenditures made from the
Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund
during the previous fiscal year and shall submit the report on or
before August 20 of each year to all of the following:
(1) The secretary.
(2) The fiscal committees of the Assembly and the Senate.
(3) The committees of the Assembly and the Senate that have
subject matter jurisdiction over veterans' affairs.
(4) The Veterans' Home Allied Council.
(e) The department shall maintain a reserve in the Veterans'
Home Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund in the amount of two
million dollars ($2,000,000).
(f) The administrator may enter into an agreement with an allied
council that authorizes that council to operate facilities and
activities authorized pursuant to this section. The agreement shall
be in the form and manner as specified by the administrator.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 1048 of the
Military and Veterans Code is amended to read:
1048. (a) The Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare, and
Recreation Fund shall include proceeds from the California Veterans
Homes Fund, operations of a canteen, revenue derived from the
issuance of prisoner-of-war special license plates pursuant to
Section 5101.5 of the Vehicle Code, all funds derived from golf
course green fees and range ball fees, all donations to the fund,
interest earned on invested funds, funds derived from the estates of
deceased members, and any other moneys or property described in this
chapter, including, but not limited to, moneys and properties
received by the home from estate assets located outside the home,
regardless of amount.
(b) The administrator department
shall prepare an itemized report that is organized by category and
accounts for all funds deposited into the Veterans' Home
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund and transmitted to the
Controller under Section 1047 during the previous fiscal year and
shall submit the report on or before August 20 of each year to all of
the following:
(1) The secretary.
(2) The fiscal committees of the Assembly and the Senate.
(3) The committees of the Assembly and the Senate that have
subject matter jurisdiction over veterans affairs.
(4) The Veterans' Home Allied Council.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 1049 of the
Military and Veterans Code is amended to read:
1049. Moneys in the Veterans' Home Morale, Welfare,
and Recreation Fund maintained under subdivision (a) of Section 1047
may be used to establish or operate a canteen that may conduct any
lawful endeavor which, in the judgment of the administrator, will
benefit the veterans residents , except
as prohibited under subdivision (b) of Section 1047. The
administrator may , with the approval of the Secretary,
establish the canteen to operate at a profit.
