Gov. signs bills to help state’s military personnel

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed eight bills to help California veterans, military personnel and their families, including educational benefits and protections from predatory lenders. Legislative wrangling over the budget scuttled some of his big-ticket items, however, such as one measure that would have offered college tuition assistance to National Guard members.

The bills give military personnel priority in enrolling in state colleges, waive some vehicle fees, provide a shortcut for voting and require employers to let workers take up to 10 days of unpaid leave when their spouses are on leave from the military.

“These bills demonstrate California’s commitment to those who currently serve, those who have served and the families who have sacrificed so much to support them,” Schwarzenegger said.

One of the bills fulfills a top priority of the National Guard Assn. of California by allowing guardsmen and women to qualify for membership in the state’s Public Employees Retirement System and to buy credit toward retirement.

That measure, SB 14 by Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino), is important to give National Guard members credit for service to the state in disaster response and other roles and when they are federalized and sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or some other distant locale, said James Lubey, executive director of the association.

“It is a way that California can say thank you to California soldiers for their service,” Lubey said.

The association has been working for four years on the retirement request as well as a proposal to provide tuition assistance to Guard members who attend state universities.

Most other states waive 50% to 100% of state college tuition for Guard members, said Pete Conaty, a lobbyist for military groups.

However, a Schwarzenegger proposal to include some money in this year’s budget for tuition assistance was rejected in legislative negotiations over the budget -- a “disappointment,” according to Lubey. The governor plans to introduce a another proposal for tuition assistance in January, spokesman Bill Maile said.

The Legislature this year also killed a $2.4-million increase in state funding to the California Assn. of Veteran Service Officers, which helps veterans apply for benefits.

“We are disappointed that a lot of the big-ticket items did not make it through the legislature,” Conaty said.

One bill signed provides members of the armed services with priority enrollment for classes at California’s state universities and community colleges. That legislation, SB 272, was by Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster).

Another bill extends the period that non-Californians in the armed forces who are stationed in the state can pay lower resident fees in the California State University and University of California systems. That bill is AB 950 by Assemblywoman Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista).

Other bills signed by the governor include:

AB 392 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), which mandates that employers allow workers to take up to 10 days of unpaid leave when a spouse is on leave from military service.

AB 282 by Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley), which makes it a crime for anyone to falsely claim to have been awarded a medal for military service when the claim is meant to defraud someone else.

SB 386 by Sen. Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), which waives some fees on vehicles owned by the surviving spouse of a former prisoner of war or Medal of Honor recipient.

AB 7 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), which seeks to protect military families from predatory or deceptive lending practices.

AB 1528, by the Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance, prohibits deceptive marketing of financial services to members of the armed forces, veterans and their families.

The governor also signed a bill to reduce Medi-Cal fraud by requiring the state to establish a computerized system to provide hospitals and doctors with the Medi-Cal numbers of patients they are treating so that patients or medical providers cannot seek reimbursement using phony or stolen Social Security numbers.

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patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com