Lawmakers hear calls to boost county veteran service officers and crack down on for‑profit claims firms

County veteran service officers and state officials told a joint informational hearing of the California State Senate and Assembly committees on Military and Veterans Affairs in Sacramento that California underinvests in local veteran services and needs stronger protections to stop for‑profit claim consultants from exploiting veterans.

David West, president of the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers and a county veterans service officer, told the panel that CVSOs are often the first point of contact for veterans and their families and that the offices build long‑term relationships while filing claims, connecting veterans to housing, health care and other benefits. "We are here to connect every one of California's veterans and their families to the benefits and services they earned," West said.

The witnesses said state subvention for CVSOs is small compared with the scale of the work. West and other CVSO witnesses cited the current State General Fund allocation of $11,000,000 for CVSO subvention, the Medi‑Cal Cost Avoidance Program at about $838,000, and the Veterans Services Office Fund at about $554,000. West said California has roughly 1,400,000 veterans and that the $11,000,000 allocation amounts to about $7.86 per veteran per year. "This is a call to recognize the disproportionate underinvestment in the system that serves the vast majority of California's veterans," he said.

Los Angeles County Director of Military and Veteran Affairs Jim Zenner described a broader local model that combines county…