February 8, 2018, Introduced by Reps. Wentworth, Albert, Hoitenga, Lower, Kahle, Calley, Hauck, Hornberger, Marino, Lucido, Hughes, Farrington, LaFave, Noble, Barrett, VanderWall, Bellino, Griffin, Crawford, Garcia, Webber, Kelly, Rendon, Whiteford, Graves, Brann, Roberts, Frederick, Sheppard, Victory, Allor, Lilly, Sabo, Glenn, Kosowski and Leutheuser and referred to the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs.
A bill to amend 1953 PA 192, entitled
"An act to create a county department of veterans' affairs in
certain counties, and to prescribe its powers and duties; and to
transfer the powers and duties of the soldiers' relief commission
in such counties,"
(MCL 35.621 to 35.624) by amending the title and by adding section
3a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An act to create a county department of veterans' affairs in
certain counties, and to prescribe its powers and duties; to create
the county veteran service fund and to provide for contributions to
and expenditures from that fund; and to transfer the powers and
duties of the soldiers' relief commission in such counties.
Sec. 3a. (1) The county veteran service fund is created within
the state treasury.
(2) The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from
any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall
direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit
to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments.
(3) Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall
remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund.
(4) The Michigan veterans affairs agency shall be the
administrator of the fund for auditing purposes.
(5) The Michigan veterans affairs agency shall create and
operate a grant program that provides grants to counties for county
veteran service operations. The Michigan veterans affairs agency
shall make grants from the fund, upon appropriation, to each county
department of veterans' affairs that meets the conditions listed in
subsection (6) for the sole use of the county's veteran service
operations. The total disbursement for each grant shall be
determined by combining the following amounts:
(a) A base amount of $25,000.00
(b) A per capita amount according to the number of veterans
residing in each county. The amount in this subdivision shall be
determined by dividing the amount remaining in the fund after
accounting for all disbursements under subdivision (a) by the total
number of veterans residing in this state and multiplying the
resulting dollar amount by the number of veterans residing in the
county receiving the grant. Population figures for veterans
residing in this state and in each county of this state shall be
obtained from the most recent Geographic Distribution of VA
Expenditures (GDX) Report published by the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs.
(6) As a condition of receiving a grant under subsection (5),
within 1 year of the effective date of the amendatory act that
added this section, a county department of veterans' affairs must
satisfy all of the following:
(a) Maintain a minimum level of county funding for veteran
service operations equal to the level of county funding for veteran
service operations for the fiscal year preceding the effective date
of the amendatory act that added this section.
(b) Establish remote access to the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs computing systems and require county veteran
service officers to obtain a PIV card.
(c) Submit quarterly reports to the Michigan veterans affairs
agency in accordance with the reporting requirements determined by
that agency.
(d) Provide no less than 20 hours per month toward veteran
service operations.
(7) As used in this section:
(a) "Accredited veteran service officer" means an individual
who has met the qualifications for accreditation under 38 USC 5904
and 38 CFR 14.629.
(b) "County veteran service fund" or "fund" means the fund
created in subsection (1).
(c) "PIV card" means a personal identity verification card
issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(d) "Veteran service operations" means assistance and
programming to meet the needs of veterans in this state. Veterans
service operations include, but are not limited to, providing
advice, advocacy, and assistance to veterans, servicemembers,
dependents, or survivors by an accredited veteran service officer
to obtain United States Department of Veterans Affairs health,
financial, or memorial benefits for which they are eligible.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.