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TO ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE TO STUDY VETERAN HOMELESSNESS, UNEMPLOYMENT, JOB PLACEMENT, INCIDENCE OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, ACCESS TO BASIC HUMAN SERVICES, AND OTHER ISSUES AFFECTING SOUTH CAROLINA VETERANS AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP AND DUTIES, THE FILLING OF VACANCIES, COMMITTEE MEETINGS, AND STAFFING.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. There is established a Committee to Study Certain Issues Affecting Veterans. The committee is comprised of three members of the Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and three members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House. The members of the committee shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman and shall meet as often and at any locale in the State as the committee considers necessary or expedient for the duration of the committee's existence as provided by this joint resolution. A vacancy on the committee must be filled in the manner of original appointment as provided by this section.
SECTION 2. (A) The committee shall study the following:
(1) the approximate number of homeless veterans residing in this State;
(2) the approximate number of South Carolina veterans who have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
(3) the root causes of veteran homelessness and reasons why traditional Veterans Affairs Services are not alleviating the situation, particularly with regard to job placement services;
(4) the availability of basic human services to South Carolina's most economically disadvantaged veterans;
(5) the advisability and feasibility of constructing an additional state veterans' nursing home in South Carolina;
(6) veterans' access to existing nursing facilities and adult daycare facilities and the availability of these facilities to veterans who may be in need of them;
(7) the ways in which the State should proceed to generate maximum use of state tax revenue for the benefit of veterans;
(8) the projected veteran population in South Carolina during the next twenty years; and
(9) possible improvement projects to existing state nursing facilities for veterans.
(B) When formulating its findings and recommendations, the committee shall consider information and recommendations from the state Office of Veterans Affairs and representatives of the veteran community.
SECTION 3. The committee shall render a written report of its findings and recommendations based upon its study conducted pursuant to SECTION 2. The report must be presented to both houses of the General Assembly and to the Governor not later than August 1, 2010. Upon presenting the written report in accordance with the provisions of this section, the committee is dissolved and this joint resolution expires.
SECTION 4. The committee shall receive clerical and related assistance from the staff of the Senate and the staff of the House of Representatives, as approved and designated by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, respectively. Committee members and committee staff shall not receive compensation for their duties with respect to the work of the committee but must be allowed the usual mileage, per diem, and subsistence as provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions, to be paid from the approved accounts of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, in the exercise of their duties and work on behalf of the committee.
SECTION 5. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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