AB 737

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law, until January 1, 2020, requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to annually compile a list of names of Vietnam veterans to be added to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the State Capitol, as specified, and requires the department to form a specified committee to review and consider requests from the public to include names on the memorial, as specified. Existing law authorizes the names on the list to be added to the memorial if specified requirements are met, including the availability of adequate private funding. The California Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the official state Vietnam veterans war memorial. This bill would extend the provisions relating to the listing of names on the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the existence and operation of the committee to January 1, 2023. The bill would provide for the establishment of an "In Memory" plaque to be affixed to the memorial to honor those veterans who died as a result of subsequent illness or injury, including physical or mental injury, as specified, that can reasonably be presumed to have resulted from military service during the Vietnam War. The bill also would require the department to maintain a public, searchable "Honor Roll" database to honor those veterans, as specified. The provisions of the bill relating to the "In Memory" plaque and the "Honor Roll" database would become inoperative and be repealed on January 1, 2023. This bill would revise the eligibility criteria for the name of a deceased Vietnam veteran to be listed on the memorial or in the database, including, but not limited to, requiring the deceased veteran to have been born or raised in, or a resident of, California, as specified. The bill would require the committee to determine whether an individual's name is to be listed on the memorial or in the database, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the committee, to identify the names of any California veterans listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. or the Vietnam veterans "In Memory Honor Roll" maintained by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and to include those names on the state's Vietnam Veterans Memorial or in the "Honor Roll" database, as appropriate. The bill would prohibit the removal of any name from the memorial or database.