Bill Text: CA SJR2 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Joint Resolution 2 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Veteran bonus repayment.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-13 - March 28 hearing canceled at the request of author. [SJR2 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SJR2-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Joint Resolution

No. 2

Introduced by Senator Nielsen
(Coauthor: Senator De León)

December 05, 2016

Relative to veteran bonus repayment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SJR 2, as introduced, Nielsen. Veteran bonus repayment.

This measure would request that Congress expedite all actions necessary to permanently waive the requirement that our state’s Army National Guard members repay federal financial incentives they received in exchange for wartime reenlistment and extend some form of relief or repayment to those soldiers who have already complied with recoupment orders despite the financial hardship.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, From 2005 to 2010, inclusive, thousands of members of the Army National Guard in California and elsewhere were granted various financial incentives, including reenlistment bonuses and student loan repayments, to encourage their service reenlistment, primarily to help ensure their continued availability in fighting global terrorism; and

WHEREAS, Subsequent audits determined that approximately 6,500 California soldiers were ineligible and improperly received those financial incentive payments, the overwhelming majority of whom took the bonus money in good faith while relying on bad information from recruiters and others in positions of authority; and

WHEREAS, The federal government is now demanding that the soldiers who acted in good faith pay the funds back, in most cases long after the money has been spent; and

WHEREAS, The federal clawback of the funds is devastating the families of current and former guard members, despite the fact that the primary fault lies with the recruiting system’s failure to ensure eligibility at the time of the awards and also that the soldiers fulfilled the associated service obligations, which often included deploying back into combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, As Californians, we are greatly appreciative of the crucial national security role that the California National Guard plays as part of the United States Department of Defense; however, we also know how vital the Army National Guard’s support is to our state during times of natural disaster and unrest; and

WHEREAS, The morale of the California National Guard has been and continues to be tested by its exhausting wartime deployment schedule over the past 15 years, the current downsizing of the federal military force structure, and now also by the retroactive clawback of these incentive awards; and

WHEREAS, We believe it is crucial to protect the morale and financial well-being of our Army National Guard members and their families so that they can continue to serve our state and nation in times of crisis; and

WHEREAS, Waiving the repayment is both a moral obligation and practical necessity; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature requests, in the strongest possible terms, for Congress to expedite all actions necessary to permanently waive the requirement that our state’s Army National Guard members repay federal financial incentives they received in exchange for wartime reenlistment; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature posits that any federal remedy should extend some form of relief or repayment to those soldiers who have already complied with recoupment orders despite the financial hardship; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.