Bill Text: CA AB2512 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Task Force on California Women Veterans Health.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2512 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2512-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2512 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Grove
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add and repeal Section 73.2 to
of the Military and Veterans Code, relating to
women veterans health care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2512, as amended, Grove. Task Force on California Women
Veterans Health.
Existing law creates the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
California Veterans Board that is required to advise the department
and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on policies for operations of
the department. Existing law authorizes the board to create advisory
committees consisting of veterans to advise the board in specific
fields. Existing law requires the department, by July 1, 2015, to
develop a transition assistance program for veterans who have been
discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States or the National
Guard, designed to assist veterans in successfully transitioning to
civilian life, that includes information about California-specific
transition assistance, including health care programs and services,
mental health resources, and military sexual trauma resources.
This bill would would, until July 1, 2022,
create the Task Force on California Women Veterans Health
Care, within the department, comprised of an unspecified
number of members. 9 voting members
appointed by the Secretary of Veteran Affairs. The bill would
require the secretary to designate an employee of the department
to serve as a non voting representative of the department
to the task force and would require the department to provide
staff support to the task force. The bill would require the task
force to study the health care needs of women veterans in the state,
as specified. The bill would also require the task force to submit
a report an annual report, commencing on or
before January 1, 2020, and until January 1, 2022, inclusive,
to the Governor and the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature that have jurisdiction over
the department, that includes the task force's findings and
recommendations. The bill would require the task force, when
conducting its study and preparing its annual report, to
consult with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the
State Department of Public Health, the Department of Managed Health
Care, and representatives of county veterans service officers.
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. The Legislature hereby makes the following findings and
declarations:
(a) Recently, each branch of the Armed Forces of the United States
has opened to women combat positions that were previously closed to
women.
(b) According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs,
the projected veterans population nationwide is approximately
23,000,000, with women making up an estimated 10 percent of that
population.
(c) The United States Department of Veterans Affairs estimates the
percentage of female veterans will increase from approximately 9
percent in 2010 to approximately 18 percent in 2040.
(d) Females comprise approximately 80,000 of the wartime veterans.
(e) The number of women veterans will continue to increase due to
ongoing combat operations in th the
Middle East and Afghanistan.
(f) Women veterans often face unique challenges when transitioning
from active duty to civilian life.
(g) The challenging needs facing women veterans can often be
overlooked when providing services to the very large veteran
population.
(h) Ensuring the availability of specialized services for physical
and mental health, including treatment of post-traumatic stress
disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, and alcohol
and substance abuse tailored to the specific needs of women veterans
is essential if California is to ensure that our returning veterans
receive proper care.
(i) Establishing a task force to study the health issues facing
women veterans and making recommendations to the Governor and the
Legislature will provide much needed information and insight.
SEC. 2. Section 73.2 is added to the Military and Veterans Code,
to read:
73.2. (a) (1) There is hereby created within the department the
Task Force on California Women Veterans Health Care.
(2) The task force shall be comprised of ______ members.
nine voting members appointed by the secretary.
(3) Task force members shall not be compensated for their
service. Task force members shall be reimbursed for their reasonable
and necessary expenses incurred in service of the task force.
receive compensation for their service, including
travel or other expenses incurred to participate in task force
meetings or per diem.
(b) The secretary shall designate an employee of the
department to serve as a nonvoting representative of the department
to the task force, and the department shall provide staff
support to the task force.
(c) The task force shall study the health care needs of women
veterans in the state, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) The quality of, and access to, mental health services,
including services and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder
and traumatic brain injury.
(2) Inpatient treatment availability.
(3) The adequacy and availability of appropriate health care for
women veterans within the federal health care system and within the
state.
(4) The adequacy and quality of, and access to, services providing
for the identification and treatment of military sexual trauma,
including sexual harassment or abuse.
(d) The task force shall submit a report
an annual report, commencing on or before January 1, 2020, and until
January 1, 2022, inclusive, to the Governor and the
appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature, Legislature that have jurisdiction over
the department, including the findings of the task force's
study and recommendations to improve provision of health care
services to women veterans in the state.
(e) The task force, when conducting its study and preparing its
annual report, shall consult with the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs, the State Department of Public
Health, the Department of Managed Health Care, and representatives of
county veterans service officers.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2022, and, as
of January 1, 2023, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, January 1, 2023,
deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
