• Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) recently introduced a bill to help disabled veterans who are transitioning from military service into a second career working in California’s public schools.
Senate Bill 1180 will give disabled veterans who are new school employees additional sick leave in their first year of employment so they can attend medical and VA appointments to treat their disability.
The bill would apply to disabled veterans who are teachers as well as other school employees, including groundskeepers, office workers, child care workers, food service workers, janitors, security officers, and others. Under the bill, full-time, year-round workers who are disabled veterans would receive 12 days of additional sick leave for use in their first year. Disabled veterans who are teachers, who work 10 months of the year, would receive as much as 10 days of additional sick leave.
The bill would apply to those hired on or after Jan. 1, 2017, who are 30 percent or more disabled as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
SB 1180 builds on the legislation Jackson authored last year. Her SB 221, the California Wounded Warriors Transitional Leave Act, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown and gave new state employees who are disabled veterans additional sick leave during their first year in the state workforce to seek treatment for their service-related disabilities.
Jackson was previously named the Leo P. Burke Legislator of the Year by the American Legion, Department of California, for her work authoring a law to ensure that eligible veterans going through the justice system are steered to Veterans Treatment Courts. Jackson also authored Senate Concurrent Resolution 27, which designated portions of Highway 101 in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties for inclusion in the National Purple Heart Trail.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2016.
