Interim Report to the 87 th Texas Legislature House Committee on Defense & Veterans’ Affairs December 2020 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON DEFENSE AND VETERANS’ AFFAIRS TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTERIM REPORT 2020 A REPORT TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE DAN FLYNN CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE CLERK AMY RISTER Committee On Defense and Veterans’ Affairs December 18, 2020 Dan Flynn P.O. Box 2910 Chairman Austin, Texas 78768-2910 The Honorable Dennis Bonnen Speaker, Texas House of Representatives Members of the Texas House of Representatives Texas State Capitol, Rm. 2W.13 Austin, Texas 78701 Dear Mr. Speaker and Fellow Members: The Committee on Defense and Veterans’ Affairs of the Eighty-sixth Legislature hereby submits its interim report including recommendations and drafted legislation for consideration by the Eighty-seventh Legislature. Respectfully submitted, _______________________ Dan Flynn _______________________ _______________________ Trent Ashby Gina Hinojosa _______________________ _______________________ Ray Lopez J.M. Lozano _______________________ _______________________ Ana-Maria Ramos Ron Reynolds _______________________ _______________________ Ramon Romero Jr. Tony Tinderholt Tony Tinderholt Vice-Chairman Members: Representative Trent Ashby, Representative Gina Hinojosa, Representative Ray Lopez, Representative J.M. Lozano, Representative Ana-Maria Ramos, Representative Ron Reynolds, and Representative Ramon Romero Jr. TABLE OF CONTENTS Interim Charges ............................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Charge 1. ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Senate Bill 601 Summary ....................................................................................................... 9 Texas Veterans Commission Implementation of Sunset Changes, SB 601.......................... 11 Senate Bill 607 Summary ..................................................................................................... 16 Texas Veterans Land Board Implementation of Sunset Changes, SB 607 ........................... 17 House Bill 1326 Summary .................................................................................................... 26 Texas Military Department Implementation of Sunset Changes, HB 1326 ......................... 28 Texas Military Preparedness Commission Implementation of SB 1443 .............................. 29 Charge 2. ....................................................................................................................................... 32 Texas Health and Human Services Commission .................................................................. 33 Private Stakeholder Responses to Charge 2.................................................................................. 35 Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute .............................................................................. 35 Canine Companions for Independence ................................................................................. 39 Sound Off .............................................................................................................................. 41 Combined Arms .................................................................................................................... 47 Emergence Health Network .................................................................................................. 49 Cohen’s Veteran Network..................................................................................................... 50 Charge 3. ....................................................................................................................................... 52 Private Stakeholder Responses to Charge 3.................................................................................. 53 Texas Association of Builders .............................................................................................. 53 Texas Mayors of Military Communities ............................................................................... 54 U.S. Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth (NAS JRB Fort Worth) Regional Coordination Committee (RCC) ........................................................................................... 58 City of San Antonio Office of Military and Veteran Affairs ................................................ 59 Charge 4. ....................................................................................................................................... 63 The Texas Department of Criminal Justice .......................................................................... 64 El Paso County’s Community Services Department ............................................................ 69 Charge 5. ....................................................................................................................................... 71 City of San Antonio Office of Military and Veteran Affairs ................................................ 72 City of El Paso ...................................................................................................................... 73 El Paso County ...................................................................................................................... 74 Private Stakeholder Responses to Charge 5.................................................................................. 75 Texas Association of Manufacturers .................................................................................... 75 The Boeing Company ........................................................................................................... 76 Combined Arms .................................................................................................................... 79 Charge 6. ....................................................................................................................................... 82 San Antonio Chamber of Commerce .................................................................................... 83 Texas Education Agency ...................................................................................................... 83 Private Stakeholder Responses to Charge 6.................................................................................. 85 Raytheon Technologies ......................................................................................................... 85 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 87 Interim Charges Charge 1. Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 86th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following: • HB 1326, which is the sunset legislation for the Texas Military Department. Examine the Adjutant General's policy outlining the director of state administration's responsibility for state administrative interests across all programs, including evaluating procedures for oversight of state employees and mitigating compliance risks. Charge 2. Study the mental health treatment options available for all Texas veterans, including efforts to fill gaps left by federal government. Make recommendations for future legislation streamlining mental health treatment coordination among federal, state, and local agencies. Charge 3. Study the potential impact of eliminating Regional Military Sustainability Commissions as an ineffective tool in assisting Texas military installations and their host defense communities with protecting the missions, operations, readiness, and resiliency of military installations. Identify new and enhanced strategies to replace the Commissions with land use limitations or restrictions, regulatory strategies, annexation powers, contractual agreements, or other tools to preserve military use areas inside and outside municipal boundaries. Charge 4. Examine gaps in services and assess efforts to connect justice-involved veterans, senior citizens, and homeless populations to services while incarcerated and after release at both the local and state levels. Specifically, the committee should evaluate training and technical assistance provided by the Texas Veterans Commission to criminal justice agencies. (Joint charge with the House Committee on Corrections) Charge 5. Review the connection between the economic vitality of business and industry and the economic vitality of our military veterans transitioning into the workforce. Specifically, the committee should analyze barriers to military veterans transitioning from active duty to civilian life, the effectiveness of government transition and training benefits, and current and ongoing demand for veteran and military spouse employment from industry in Texas. (Joint charge with the House Committee on International Relations & Economic Development) Charge 6. Monitor the State Auditor's review of agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction. The Chair shall seek input and periodic briefings on completed audits