Jim Frazier named Legislator of the Year

Assemblymember Jim Frazier, whose district includes Suisun City, will receive the Motomu Nakasako Legislator of the Year Award for 2015, the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers announced this week.

The Association is a statewide organization that represents the professional advocates in each county who are responsible for helping veterans obtain the benefits to which they are entitled.

CACVSO also selected California State Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside) to share in the Legislator of the Year Award, and Speaker of the Assembly Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to receive its Lifetime Achievement Award.

The awards will be presented at the CACVSO annual Sacramento Training Conference in February.

Frazier, a Democrat from Oakley, assumed office in 2013. According to the CACVSO press release, he “hit the ground running and quickly let it be known that he would support veterans.”

Frazier’s interest in veterans’ affairs stems from an uncle who died of complications from Agent Orange exposure resulting from his service in Vietnam.

After a two-year effort, Frazier pushed through a bill to allow a VETERAN designation on California driver’s licenses and identification cards, a longtime goal of the veterans’ community. Frazier authored three bills in a two-year period to make this happen. AB 935, which was adopted by the Legislature and signed by the governor in 2014, will take effect this Nov. 11.

Frazier, who serves on the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, was the major sponsor and participant of the 25th Anniversary of the California 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

State Sen. Roth chairs the Senate Budget Subcommittee on State Administration and General Government and also serves on the Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee. Retired from the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps, 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.

The daughter of a World War II veteran and the sister of a Vietnam veteran, Speaker Atkins has included affordable housing for veterans, as well as veterans’ homelessness, in her legislative priorities since arriving in the Legislature. She campaigned for the passage of Proposition 41 and the Veterans Housing Bond. During her tenure in the Legislature, she has authored bills regarding Veterans Home admissions, waiver of renewal fees for professional licenses for deployed service members, 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.

Each legislator supported efforts that led to increased funding for the County Veterans Service Offices in the past three years.

“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,” said Pete Conaty, Governmental Advocate for the CACVSO.

The California Association of County Veterans Service Officers was established in 1945.

For more on Assemblymember Jim Frazier, visit his website, follow him on Facebook, visit his District Office at 1261 Travis Blvd., Suite 110, Fairfield; or call 707-399-3011.