(a) The Department of Veterans Affairs succeeds to, and is vested with, the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, the Division of Veterans’ Welfare, the Veterans’ Welfare Board, the California Veterans’ Commission, the Division of Veterans’ Homes, the Board of Directors of the Veterans’ Home of California, and the Board of Directors of the Woman’s Relief Corps Home of California and of the officers and employees of that department, those divisions and boards, and that commission, except that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in lieu of the Director of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, is a member of the Governor’s cabinet and, in lieu of the chair of the Veterans’ Welfare Board, is a member of each and every veterans’ finance committee of which the chair until now has been a member.

(b) (1) There is hereby created the California Veterans Memorial Registry Fund, for the deposit of financial contributions made for the support of the Veterans Registry, which is part of the California Veterans Memorial. Notwithstanding § 13340 of the Government Code and without regard to fiscal years, the money in the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the department for the purpose of defraying the costs of data entry and system management for the Veterans Registry and the reasonable costs that are incurred by the department for administering the fund.

(2) In order to be eligible for inclusion in the Veterans Registry, a person must have served in the active military of the United States, received a discharge under honorable conditions, and resided in California at some time before, during, or after his or her military service. Failure to meet this eligibility requirement constitutes good cause for removal of the person’s name from the Veterans Registry.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 765, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.)