The California Association of County Veterans Service Officers (CACVSO) has selected Speaker of the Assembly Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to receive the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The CACVSO has also chosen California State Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside) and Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) as the recipients of the Motomu Nakasako Legislator of the Year awards for 2015.
The awards will be presented at the California Association of County Veterans Service Officer’s Annual Sacramento Training Conference in February 2016.
The Motomu Nakasako Award is named after “Mote” Nakasako, a Los Angeles County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO) who was constantly involved in legislation to improve the lives of veterans at the local, state, and federal levels. He was a decorated member of the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of World War II’s most decorated units. Mr. Nakasako joined the Army and volunteered for combat duty from the Heart Mountain Internment Camp in Wyoming.
Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego): Speaker Atkins has a close connection to veterans. San Diego is home to a large veterans and military population. Speaker Atkins’ father was a WWII veteran and her brother served in Vietnam.
Speaker Atkins campaigned for the passage of Proposition 41, the Veterans Housing Bond, which was passed in 2014. Affordable housing for veterans as well as veterans homelessness have been two of her legislative priorities since first arriving in the Legislature. The state’s share of funding for the County Veterans Service Officers was increased in 2013 and Speaker Atkins was closely involved in keeping this vital funding intact through the complex budget process.
During her tenure in the Legislature she has authored bills regarding Veterans Home admissions, waiver of renewal fees for professional licenses for deployed servicemembers, extension of sales and use tax exemption for veterans thrift stores, a resolution encouraging California’s courts to establish veterans treatment courts, and resolutions to proclaim Women Veterans Day for 2014 and 2015.
The Annual Assembly Veterans Recognition Luncheon would not be possible without the active engagement and support of Speaker Atkins. Speaker Atkins has been a steadfast supporter of this important event, which raises the visibility of veterans and veteran’s issues within the Legislature and with the public.
Kings County CVSO and CACVSO Legislative Committee Chair Joe Wright noted, “County Veterans Service Officers were fortunate to have a such a staunch supporter of veterans as one of California’s top leaders, especially during the time of our crucial efforts to secure the additional state funding needed to serve our state’s veterans. We could not have done it without her leadership”.
Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside) Senator Roth is chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on State Administration and General Government and also serves on the Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee. Senator Roth is retired from the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He entered active duty in the US Air Force in 1975. By 2004, he had risen to the rank of major general and served in the Pentagon as Mobilization Assistant to The Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Air Force.
General Roth retired from the Air Force in 2007 after 32 years of service. Senator Roth has introduced legislation to improve the Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise system, require the Employment Development Department to monitor outcomes for veterans, and create a California Veterans Leadership Program to connect returning veterans of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with employment, housing, and mental health resources.
He was also instrumental in helping to increase funding for the County Veterans Service Offices in the past three years through the budget process. On March 28, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Senator Roth to the newly created Governor’s Council on California Military Future.
Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley): Assuming office in 2013, Assemblyman Frazier hit the ground running and quickly let it be known that he would support veterans. Frazier’s uncle died of complications from Agent Orange exposure resulting from his service in Vietnam. After a two year effort, he pushed through the VETERAN designation on the California driver’s license bill, a longtime goal of the veterans community.
AB 935, which will take effect on November 11, 2015, will require DMV to print the word “VETERAN” on the face of a driver’s license or identification card issued to a person who makes that request. Frazier authored three bills in a two year period to make this happen. Assemblyman Frazier was the major sponsor and participant of the 25th Anniversary of the CA Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the State Capitol. He used his own funds to bring the “Wall That Heals” Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall to the State Capitol in 2014.
In November of that year, he participated in the ceremony for the Wall of Remembrance for the Global War on Terror at the Capitol on Veterans Day.
According to Pete Conaty, Governmental Advocate for the CACVSO, “California’s veterans and the professionals who assist them are indeed fortunate to have such staunch champions in the Legislature as Speaker Atkins, Senator Roth, and Assemblyman Frazier”.
The California Association of County Veterans Service Officers (CACVSO) was established in 1945 and they are responsible for assisting veterans in filing for federal benefits, claim development, claim filing advocacy, and case management services to our respective veteran’ populations. This vital segment of our population encompasses an ever increasing aging veterans’ population composed of WWII and Korean veterans and their survivors, as well as veterans from our most recent wars.
County Veterans Service Offices are also responsible for screening veterans and their dependents (by means of the State Mandated Welfare Referral Program) that have applied for Cal WORKS, food stamps, Medi-Cal, and other public assistance benefits.
