Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

COMMITTEE ON JOINT STATE VETERANS & MILITARY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Date:01/05/2015
ATTENDANCE
Time:10:07 AM to 12:30 PM
Aguilar
X
Conti
E
Place:HCR 0112
Dore
E
Foote
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Harvey
E
Representative Ryden
Herpin
E
Humphrey
X
This Report was prepared by
Jones
X
Julia Jackson
Labuda
E
Melton
X
Moreno
E
Nordberg
E
Salazar
X
Williams
E
Ryden
X
Ulibarri
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
SMART Act Presentation -- DMVA
Veterans Trust Fund Audit
SMART Act Presentation -- Dept of State		Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only


10:08 AM -- SMART Act Presentation, DMVA

The committee was called to order. New members of the 2015 joint committee introduced themselves, including: Senators-elect Scott and Sonnenberg; Representatives-elect Lontine, Neville, Tate, and Thurlow; and Representatives Primavera and Tyler.

Brig. Gen. Jerome Limoge, Deputy Adjutant General of the Colorado National Guard, introduced himself to the committee. Mr. Mickey Hunt, Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), presented information to the committee. Committee members received a packet of slides (Attachment A) and a packet of strategic planning information from the Office of State Personnel and Budgeting (Attachment B). Mr. Hunt discussed DMVA's legislative and regulatory agendas. He described the department's budget and capital development requests for Fiscal Year 2015-16. He noted that DMVA's budget is primarily federal funds.

15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachA.pdf15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachA.pdf Attachment B can be viewed at Legislative Council.





10:15 AM

Mr. Hunt continued to discuss DMVA's performance plan and strategic policy initiatives. Senator Jones and Mr. Hunt discussed the department's request to increase open space around Buckley Air Force Base (AFB) in Aurora as part of the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program. Representative Ryden and Mr. Hunt discussed the National Guard operations at Buckley AFB. Discussion continued regarding the REPI initiative at Buckley AFB.


10:22 AM

Gen. Limoge provided an overview of the department. He described National Guard deployments and operations, and the state's partnership programs. He provided information about federally funded military projects in Colorado. Representative Primavera and Gen. Limoge discussed the loss of mental health counselors under National Guard family programs. Mr. Hunt clarified that these are federal programs and federal positions, decided by the National Guard Bureau. Discussion continued on this point. Gen. Limoge clarified the distinction between different federal funding streams for the military.


10:33 AM

Reuben Mestas, director of the Division of Veterans Affairs, introduced himself and described the division's work. He discussed the division's assistance in submitting claims to the federal Veterans Administration (VA), the administration of the disabled veterans property tax exemption, and the Veterans Assistance Grant program.


10:41 AM

Dana Nemela, Vice-Chair of the Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs, introduced herself and described the board. She discussed the board's key initiatives in 2014, including the grants the board awarded from the Veterans Trust Fund. Senator Aguilar and Ms. Nemela discussed the Veterans Choice Card, which helps rural veterans gain access to care.

Representative Primavera and Ms. Nemela discussed concussive injuries and mental health issues facing young veterans. Mr. Hunt added information about medical care for active duty military personnel. Gen. Limoge and Representative Primavera continued to discuss the military's work on traumatic brain injuries.


10:51 AM

Discussion continued regarding the Veterans Choice Cards and healthcare access for rural veterans.


10:55 AM

Col. William Aceves, Commander, Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, introduced himself and described the work of the Civil Air Patrol. He discussed the wing's achievements in 2014.









11:00 AM

Gen. Limoge provided additional information about statewide military issues. He discussed the DMVA's proactive approach toward the next possible Defense Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. He further discussed the potential negative affects of continued federal sequester. He described the economic impact of the military presence in Colorado.

11:03 AM

Senator Ulibarri provided a draft letter (Attachment C) expressing concerns about VA care in Grand Junction.

15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachC.pdf15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachC.pdf

11:04 AM -- Chris Blumenstein, a former social worker at the Grand Junction VA Medical Center, testified about the case raised in Senator Ulibarri's letter. He described the care and treatment Vietnam veteran Roger Holmes received in Grand Junction, noting particular problems with this care. He explained that Mr. Holmes died on December 20, 2014.


11:16 AM

Senator Ulibarri and Senator Aguilar discussed Mr. Blumenstein's testimony. Committee discussion continued regarding further committee action on this issue.


11:21 AM

The committee recessed.


11:29 AM -- Veterans Trust Fund Audit

Matt Devlin, Deputy State Auditor, introduced himself and described the audit requirements under the SMART Act. Andrew Knauer, Legislative Auditor, described the role of the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) and discussed the performance audit on the Veterans Trust Fund grant program. Highlights of the audit report were provided to the committee (Attachment D).

15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachD.pdf15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachD.pdf

Mr. Knauer described the audit of the Veterans Trust Fund. He discussed the DMVA's measurements of grant performance. He noted that DMVA has agreed with OSA's recommendations and begun to implement improved performance measures.






Mr. Knauer discussed the Annual Report of Audit Recommendations Not Fully Implemented, highlights of which were provided to committee members (Attachment E). At Representative Ryden's request, Mr. Knauer noted that the DMVA's status report on the Veterans Trust Fund audit would be heard at the Legislative Audit Committee meeting on January 13, 2015.

15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachE.pdf15JtStateSMARTAct0105AttachE.pdf

11:40 AM -- SMART Act Presentation, Dept of State

Secretary of State Scott Gessler introduced himself and presented information about the Department of State. Committee members received a copy of the department's strategic plan and budget request for FY 2015-16 (Attachment F). Secretary Gessler discussed his accomplishments as Secretary of State and described the department's programs. He discussed the Go Code Colorado program and improvements to business filing systems.

Attachment F can be viewed at Legislative Council.

11:50 AM

Secretary Gessler discussed the performance plan goals for the Elections Division, particularly regarding training for new county clerks and their staff. He described the department's statewide elections data portal. He noted the large number of visitors the department's website receives.


11:58 AM

Secretary Gessler discussed the importance of addressing vulnerabilities in the state's voter registration system. He noted that issues with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the signature verification process are further causes of concern with the state's election system. Secretary Gessler added that there are significant problems with the state's campaign finance system, including language in the state Constitution that has been nullified by federal courts.

Secretary Gessler discussed the department's use of business filing fees to fund elections activities. He noted a pending lawsuit challenging this system under TABOR.


12:06 PM

Representative Melton and Secretary Gessler discussed the department's efforts to encourage use of the online voter registration system. Secretary Gessler explained that the department is working to give voter registration drives electronic access to the registration database.

Representative-elect Thurlow and Secretary Gessler discussed the possibility of modernizing statewide recording systems. Representative Ryden clarified with Secretary Gessler that the Department of State has its own information technology (IT) division.









Representative Ryden and Secretary Gessler discussed the outage of the state's registered voter database, known as SCORE, on Election Day. Secretary Gessler stated that the outage was the result of a portal problem in the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT). They continued to discuss ballot distribution delays with the USPS. Discussion continued regarding mail ballot delivery.


12:20 PM

Committee members continued to discuss SCORE outages and resulting delays with Secretary Gessler. Senator Ulibarri and Secretary Gessler discussed plans for the new Secretary of State's leadership team and legislative priorities. Secretary Gessler noted that the Deputy Secretary of State and Chief of Staff would remain in their positions, and he invited committee members to visit the department.


12:30 PM

The committee adjourned.