A divided and emotional Senate gave the final legislative approval to a bill that supporters said would protect veterans from predatory claim sharks, while opponents expressed concern that it would sharply curtail their choices when seeking benefits.
Senate Bill 694 from Sen. Bob Archuleta is designed to protect veterans from predatory and deceptive people or companies that claim to help them access their benefits. Archuleta, in an interview after lawmakers voted to send the bill to the governor, described the effort as “historic” and “one of the biggest issues to hit the veterans community in decades.”
“We just know you’re (veterans) there for us, and these deceptive practices that have been there for years is now going to stop,” said Archuleta, a Democrat whose district includes Brea and Placentia.
The bill, Archuleta and other supporters said, will protect veterans from “claim sharks,” people or organizations that are not accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs but charge for representation or other services related to benefits claims.
The bill prohibits charging fees higher than what an accredited attorney or claims agent would levy, and it also increases penalties for those who obtain unauthorized access to veterans’ data on VA computer systems, Archuleta described on the Senate floor last week.
“We owe it to our veterans to stand with them and to protect them from being taken advantage of while navigating the benefits they’ve earned,” said Archuleta, who is a U.S. Army combat veteran. “This is not about politics. It’s about doing what’s right. Making millions of dollars on the back of our veterans is wrong. They’ve earned their benefits. They deserve their benefits.”
While not every unaccredited person or organization working on veterans’ claims is nefarious, the bill’s supporters acknowledged, other companies have operated without oversight and charged up to five times the increase of the veteran’s monthly benefits for their services, Archuleta said.
The effort was a contentious one, dividing senators in a key committee hearing in September.
Sen. Tom Umberg, who voted against the bill, said the effort was well-intentioned, but it creates a system where veterans are not allowed to choose how they go about filing benefits claims.
“What we’re saying is we have made a legislative determination that you’re all bad, that you’re all rogue, that you’re all operating illegally, that you’re all trying to rip off veterans,” said Umberg, a Santa Ana Democrat and a retired U.S. Army colonel.
“It saddens me to be urging a no vote, but I think this is so important, not just for the immediate situation, but for the future, that we actually say as a body that we’re going to protect veterans in a way that gives them the choice, that gives them the opportunity to choose whomever they wish to seek what they justly deserve,” Umberg added in remarks captured by CalMatters’ Digital Democracy project.
The bill ultimately passed the Senate last week in a 25-6 vote, with nine members not voting. (Lawmakers are recorded as not voting when they are absent; but not voting, which counts as a “no” vote, can also be a way for legislators to decline, almost politely, to support a bill.)
Sens. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, and Steven Choi, R-Irvine, voted for the bill, along with Archuleta. Sens. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murietta, and Umberg voted no. Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, did not have a vote recorded.
After the Senate’s vote, the bill is now in what’s called “engrossing and enrolling.” That’s just a technical way to say the bill is being proofread to make sure it’s all accurate and all the amendments are appropriately added before it is delivered to the governor.
In other news
• Senate Republicans last week asked the governor to call an emergency special session — this essentially allows legislators to focus on a narrow issue — to address the closing of the Benicia refinery in Valero. The shuttering of that refinery, combined with the already-closed Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles, will lead to increased gas prices, the Republicans said.
“Those high gas prices drive up the cost of goods and services across the board, making everyday life expensive,” said Strickland, who said the special session is needed “to address restrictive oil and gas policies.”