Veterans, good news!
A significant number of these bills will enhance the effort to guarantee veterans the extensive variety of help accessible to them. For example, getting free civil legal help, beginning a farming profession, or turning into a citizen after leaving military service.
Here’s our gathering of enacted Assembly Bills (ABs) and Senate Bills (SBs) — all signed by Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. — with a general rundown of each bill and how it may influence the veterans of California.
Affordable Housing
The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 approves the issuance of bonds in the amount of $3 billion to help back different existing housing programs, and also infill infrastructure financing and affordable housing matching grant programs. Another $1 billion would be utilized to give extra financing to programs for farm, ranch, home, and mobile home purchase assistance for veterans. A bond measure is expected to go before voters in November 2018.
Records pertaining to California veterans
AB242 – Requires death certificates to incorporate whether the individual at any point served in the U.S. Military and requires the State Department of Public Health to utilize this data to arrange a yearly report regarding veteran suicide in California for the Legislature and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
AB331 – Requires county recorders to record and keep up military discharge reports in a nonpublic file, when requested for by a military veteran or authorized individual. It additionally removes a previous requirement that document become part of county record. Only the veteran, or approved individual is allowed to get a duplicate of the document.
AB974- Expects counties to report spending on mental health services for veterans from Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds. MHSA, authorized by voters as Proposition 63 in 2004, set up a commission for mental heal services oversight and responsibility.
Bills related to services and benefits
AB360 – Accommodates free civil legal help to veterans and their families who can’t afford the cost of legal services. Requires the State Bar of California to arrange pro bono legal services and post to its website a rundown of local bar associations, legal aid organizations, veterans service providers and volunteer lawyers willing to give pro bono legal services to veterans.
AB376 – Requires CalVet, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the Department of Food and Agriculture to identify and post data about advantages accessible to help veterans entering farming or ranching careers. State veteran benefits incorporate education assistance and farm and home loans.
SB156 – Requires CalVet to extend the present California Transition Assistance Program to give noncitizens leaving military service information about how to become citizens, including information on where to acquire state legal assistance. This bill additionally requires the state National Guard to educate its members that it will help noncitizen members in obtaining US citizenship when they are qualified and, when requested, to assist the member in filing all necessary forms and paperwork.
AB671 – Authorizes veterans memorial districts to give financing to associations that offer supportive services — including counseling, case management, and employment training – that enhance the personal quality of life for veterans and their families. This expands on existing law relating with veterans memorial districts.
AB1618 – Sets up a competitive grant program to subsidize administrations that enhance the quality of life for veterans and their families. CalVet will administer the program in help of the state’s key strategic plan, will make a certification procedure for veteran service providers applying for the grants, and will organize with other state divisions and agencies, as necessary, to implement the program.
SB330 – The State Housing Law approves cities and counties to endorse expenses for required permits. This bill approves cities and counties to waive or decrease all building grant expenses for upgrades to the home of a veteran with a qualifying disability that are made to accommodate that disability..
Issues related to health care and skilled nursing facilities
SB97 – This bill rolls out various improvements identified with financing and regulation of California health care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities. It modifies eligibility requirements for health facility grants, requires administrative penalties for certain violations at skilled nursing facilities, and also establishes various health education and research programs, including nutrition programs and community-living support benefits for Medi-Cal recipients.
AB275 – Extends the notice and arranging prerequisites that a long-term health care facility must give before a change in license or facility operations that results in the inability to administer to patients or residents. It requires a facility to give a 60-day notice to affected residents or their guardians, to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and to the Department of Health Care Services and any health plan of an affected resident before any change.
AB713 – Allows a proceeding care retirement facility to transfer a current resident if he/she builds up a physical or mental condition that is impending to the wellbeing, security, or well-being of the resident or someone else, without being a risk. The provider would need to use assessment tools during the process and share copies of the finished evaluation with the resident or the resident’s responsible individual. The bill likewise builds procedures for disputing transfers.
AB940 – Requires a long-term medical health care facility to advise the local long-term care ombudsman if an occupant is told in writing of a facility-initiated transfer or release from the facility. Inability to give a timely copy of that notice would constitute a Class B violation for purposes of a citation issued by the State Department of Public Health.
SB294 – Approves a person or organization authorized under the California Hospice Licensure Act to give any of the approved interdisciplinary hospice services, including palliative care, to a patient who has a genuine sickness, through the year 2021. Licensees choosing to give palliative care under this temporary authorization are required to report extra information to the state Department of Public Health, including the number of patients getting palliative care.
SB449 – Existing law requires that skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities have a pre-certification training program, which incorporates no less than 60 classroom hours of preparing on essential nursing abilities, patient safety and rights, social and mental issues of patients, and resident abuse prevention. This bill would require that no less than two of the 60 hours of classroom training address the needs of people with Alzheimer’s illness and related dementias.
AB89 – Requires applicants looking for psychologist licensure under the Psychology Licensing Law to finish at least six hours of coursework or supervised experience in suicide risk assessment and intervention. The bill likewise incorporates a one-time requirement that licensed psychologists finish suicide risk assessment and intervention training prior to the time of their first renewal.
SB219 – Enacts the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights and makes it unlawful for any long-term facility to take specified actions on the premise of a man’s real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status, including willfully or repeatedly failing to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns, and denying admission to a long-term care facility. Provides for imposition of civil penalties.
Miscellaneous
AB1361 – Authorizes a Municipal Water District to extend out water service to Indian grounds that are not inside its district. The District would need to apply to a nearby agency formation commission, which would be approved to impose certain conditions on the expansion of service.
AB1365 – Requires CalVet to give a yearly financial report of veteran homes situated in Barstow, Chula Vista, Fresno, Lancaster, Redding, Ventura, West Los Angeles and Yountville to the Legislature, and to post the report on the CalVet site. What’s more, CalVet must review the use of a veteran home to decide the best proceeded, unrestricted utilization of the home, five years before and after expiration of a specified use restriction imposed by federal law.
SB266 – This bill relates to customer loans for individuals from the U.S. Military and rolls out improvements concerning laws restricting discrimination against a member of the military force, incorporating discrimination with respect to the terms of a loan or financing based on that person’s membership in the armed forces. It amends the Banking Law, the Credit Union Law, the Finance Lenders Law, and the Deferred Deposit Transaction Law to update references to the Military Lending Act.
AB1696 – Requires the Employment Development Department (EDD) to reveal certain information to the Department of Developmental Services to help with the implementation of the Employment First Policy, the policy that opportunities for integrated, competitive employment be given the most priority for working-age people with developmental disabilities, regardless of the severity of their disabilities. The bill reexamines existing law to enable disclosure to EDD workers of the information and records in the course of providing intake, assessment, and services to persons with developmental disabilities as necessary for Employment First Policy purposes.
AB94 – The Corporation Tax Law enables certain nonprofit associations to acquire an exception from certain state and government taxes. This bill approves veterans’ organizations, described in Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code, to obtain this exception