Governor Schwarzenegger has a proud history of supporting the military and its veterans. The Governor has provided leadership to advance funding for new state veterans’ homes to provide assisted living, skilled nursing care and specialized attention for Alzheimer’s patients. The Governor’s leadership also helped California retain all of its major installations during the latest base closures.

Since taking office the Governor has helped extend job security for state workers serving in the military, increased business opportunities for disabled veterans, protected troops from financial scams and helped more veterans purchase homes by raising limits on CalVet home loans. Additionally, the Governor has supported measures to crack down on exorbitant payday lending schemes that target veterans and their families.

Major Changes Included in the May Revision

Yountville 75-bed Alzheimer’s Unit

• $3.3 million ($2.3 million General Fund) for the new 75-bed Alzheimer’s Unit at the Veteran’s Home in Yountville, expected to open in mid-July 2007. These increases include $2.3 million in General Fund associated with various employee compensation costs and $1.0 million for direct patient operating and expense costs of food, pharmaceuticals, outside medical services, and supplemental medical insurance.

Yountville 40 Skilled Nursing Facility Beds

• An increase of $1.2 million ($1.1 million General Fund) for a 40-bed Skilled Nursing Facility expected to open in January 2008 at the Veterans Home in Yountville. This increase includes $570,000 General Fund for various employee compensation costs and $640,000 for direct patient operating and expense costs of food, pharmaceuticals, outside medical services, and supplemental medical insurance.

Salary Increases for Employees Affected by the Coleman and Perez Court Cases

• $564,000 for the Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA) to provide salary increases to employees in job classifications affected by the Coleman and Perez court cases. These increases are necessary to properly protect and serve the members in the Veterans Homes by retaining existing staff and enhancing the recruitment of additional mental health and dental professionals. This funding will enable the CDVA to increase salaries for psychiatrists and senior psychologists to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) salary levels less five percent, and raises salaries for all other impacted mental health and dental classifications to CDCR salary levels less 18 percent.

Items Largely Unchanged from the Governor’s 2007 January Budget

Additional Resources for Veteran Outreach

• $180,000 to fund two positions (one in Los Angeles and one in San Diego) at CDVA Veteran Services District Offices that will service veterans in that area and help increase the amount of new benefits obtained for veterans through a statewide outreach program. After showing the effectiveness for increasing benefit participation of veterans in California, this proposal takes two positions that were established as a limited term program and makes them permanent.

Barstow 40 Skilled Nursing Facility Beds

• $2.3 million ($2.1 million General Fund and $245,000 other funds) and 18 positions to reopen 40 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) beds at the Barstow Veterans Home. This reactivation of the unit will occur over two fiscal years. The opening of 40 SNF beds will provide needed care for Veterans and allow for greater utilization of the Barstow Home.

Enterprise Wide Information System

• $11.4 million General Fund ($7 million one-time) and 26.4 positions to procure and implement a statewide Veterans Home Information System. This system will be implemented in existing homes and homes proposed for construction. The current system is outdated and can no longer be appropriately supported. The new system, based upon the federal veterans' health care information system, will improve health care tracking and enhance the continuum of care provided to veterans.

Initial Staffing for Planning New Veterans Homes

• $995,000 General Fund and 8 positions for the initial construction and pre-activation phases of the Greater Los Angeles and Ventura County Veterans Homes project. These positions will help ensure that construction and business operations comply with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Construction of the West Los Angeles Veterans Home and the satellite facilities in Ventura and Lancaster will begin in July 2007 with Ventura and Lancaster to be completed in December 2008. The Veterans Home in West Los Angeles will be completed in December 2009. When the project is complete it will bring Adult Day Health Care, assisted living and Skilled Nursing Facility care, including dementia care, to the greater Los Angeles area where approximately 260,000 veterans reside.

Military Funeral Honors Program

• $1.754 million and 23 State Active Duty positions at the California Military Department in order to strengthen the Military Funeral Honors Program (MFHP). This funding will ensure dedicated resources for funeral honors activities.

Without proposing new funding in 2007-08, the Department of General Services will prioritize existing resources to increase the number of disabled veterans’ business enterprises that obtain state contracts. These efforts include:

• Working with the California Department of Veterans Affairs on the Greater Los Angeles Ventura County project to achieve a 5 percent disabled veterans’ business enterprise participation in building three State of California Veterans’ Homes.
• Soliciting qualifying constructions firms to become certified disabled veterans business enterprises using the database of the Contractors State License Board.
• Hosting town hall meetings with the disabled veterans’ business enterprises alliance to increase the percentage of state dollars awarded to these qualifying firms.