State Legislation
California Legislative Update
This list is an overview of some of the higher priority measures the CAP Center tracked and weighed in on during the 2015 Legislative Session.
CAP Center Supporting Bill List
AB 924 (Cooley): Personal income tax: voluntary contributions: State Children's Trust Fund
Current law allows individual taxpayers to voluntarily contribute to specified funds or accounts on their tax returns, and previously allowed contributions to the State Children’s Trust Fund, which provides funding for child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, restore the State Children’s Trust Fund to the list of eligible charitable funds, and would require the Franchise Tax Board to designate the fund as the first voluntary contribution option on the personal income tax return.
ACR 24 (Chu): Child Abuse Prevention Month
This measure would acknowledge the month of April 2015 as Child Abuse Prevention Month, and encourage the people of the State of California to work together to support youth-serving child abuse prevention activities in their communities and schools.
This list is an overview of some of the higher priority measures the CAP Center tracked and weighed in on during the 2013-2014 Legislative Session.
CAP Center Priority Bill List
AB 215 (Buchanan): School Employees: Dismissal or Suspension: Hearings
Current law prohibits a permanent school employee from being dismissed, except for one or more of certain enumerated causes, including immoral or unprofessional conduct. This bill would also include egregious misconduct, as defined, as a basis for dismissal. This bill contains other related provisions and other current laws.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 230 (Maienschein): Youth Athletic Programs: Background Checks
Would require a community youth athletic program to provide written notice to the parent or guardian of a youth participating in the program regarding the program’s policies relating to criminal background checks for volunteer and hired coaches in the program, as specified.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 357 (Pan): Medi-Cal Children’s Health Advisory Panel
Would repeal the Healthy Families Advisory Board and instead rename and recast the board as the Medi-Cal Children's Health Advisory Panel, an independent, statewide advisory body composed of 15 members charged with advising the State Department of Health Care Services on matters relevant to all children enrolled in Medi-Cal and their families, as specified.
Outcome: : Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 578 (Dickinson): Crisis Nurseries: Study
Would, until January 1, 2017, require the State Department of Social Services to implement a 2-year pilot project in the counties of Sacramento and Yolo to conduct a study of the relationship between crisis respite care and incidents of reported child abuse in those counties, and report the results of the study to the Legislature. The bill would make the implementation of this pilot project contingent upon all of the crisis nurseries in those counties voluntarily participating in the project and providing funding for 1/2 of the cost of the project.
Outcome: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 883 (Cooley): Child Sexual Abuse: Prevention Pilot Program
Would establish the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program as a pilot program in no more than 3 counties, as selected by the State Department of Social Services from among counties that volunteer to participate and based on specified criteria, to provide child sexual abuse prevention and intervention services through public, private, or nonprofit programs that provide those services. The bill would annually appropriate $50,000 from the General Fund to each county that is selected to conduct a pilot program, thereby making an appropriation.
Outcome: : VETOED (see AB 883 Governor's Veto Message)
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT /SPONSOR
AB 1432 (Gatto): Mandated Child Abuse Reporting: School Employees: Training
Would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention in the State Department of Social Services, to develop and disseminate information to all school districts, county offices of education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education, and charter schools, and their school personnel in California, regarding the detection and reporting of child abuse, to provide statewide guidance on the responsibilities of mandated reporters, and to develop appropriate means of instructing school personnel in the detection of child abuse and neglect and the proper action that school personnel should take in suspected cases of child abuse and neglect.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1438 (Linder): Sex Offenders: Certificates of Rehabilitation
Under current law, a person convicted of certain sex offenses is not, upon obtaining a certificate of rehabilitation, relieved of his or her duty to register as a sex offender. This bill, in addition, would make the provisions for obtaining a certificate of rehabilitation inapplicable to a person who is convicted of engaging in sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation, or sexual penetration with a child who is 10 years of age or younger and would provide that such a person who has obtained a certificate of rehabilitation is not relieved of his or her duty to register as a sex offender.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1441 (Stone): Pupils in Foster Care: Transfers Between Schools: Educational Record: Course Credit
Would require a local educational agency, as defined, in determining credits earned for coursework completed in a course that satisfies the requirements for graduation, to calculate and award credit for that course in proportion to the period of time the pupil attended the course and achieved a grade of D or higher. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1452 (Stone): CalWORKs: Temporary Homeless Assistance
Current law establishes maximum aid grant amounts to be provided under the CalWORKs program, and generally prohibits cost-of-living adjustments to those maximum aid grant amounts. This bill would increase the amount of homeless assistance to $75 per day for families of up to 4 members, and would increase the daily maximum to $135. The bill would require that this amount be adjusted annually to reflect any increases or decreases in the cost of living. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1502 (Mullin): CalWORKs: Family Unity Act of 2015
Current law, under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, requires that aid be granted to a family with a related child under 18 years of age who has been deprived of parental support or care due to the unemployment, continued absence, death, incapacity, or incarceration of a parent. This bill would instead require that aid be granted to a family with a related child who is under 18 years of age if the family meets applicable eligibility requirements, without regard to the employment status of the parent. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: Held in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1505 (Garcia): Child Abuse: Mandated Reporters
Would make instances of sodomy or oral copulation with a minor reportable as sexual abuse only if the conduct involves either a person over 21 years of age or a minor under 16 years of age . This bill contains other existing laws.
Outcome: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
Position: Concerns
AB 1585 (Alejo): Human Trafficking
Would provide that if a defendant has been convicted of solicitation or prostitution and has completed any term of probation for that conviction, the defendant may petition the court for relief if the defendant can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the conviction was the result of his or her status as a victim of human trafficking, and would authorize a court to issue an order that sets forth a finding that the defendant was a victim of human trafficking, as specified.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1623 (Atkins): Family Justice Centers
Would reenact and recast specified provisions to authorize, commencing January 1, 2015, any city, county, or community-based nonprofit organization to establish a multiagency, multidisciplinary family justice center to assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder or dependent adult abuse, and human trafficking, as specified. The bill would also specify additional confidentiality provisions relating to information disclosed by a victim in a family justice center, as provided, and would require each family justice center to maintain a mandatory training for all staff members, volunteers, and agency professionals.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1775 (Melendez): Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act: Sexual Abuse
Would provide that sexual exploitation also includes a person who knowingly downloads, streams, or accesses through any electronic or digital media, a film, photograph, videotape, video recording, negative, or slide in which a child is engaged in an act of obscene sexual conduct. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose additional duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1790 (Dickinson): Foster Children: Mental Health Services
Would require the State Department of Social Services to convene a stakeholder group to identify barriers to the provision of mental health services by mental health professionals with specialized clinical training in adoption or permanency issues to children receiving those medically necessary specialty mental health services. The bill would require the stakeholder group to make specific recommendations by January 31, 2016, for voluntary measures to address those barriers, but would provide that those recommendations are not binding on any state or local government agency or private entity.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1791 (Maienschein): Prostitution: Minors
Current law makes it a crime to engage in specified forms of disorderly conduct, including soliciting or agreeing to engage in, or engaging in, any act of prostitution. This bill would make that crime punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment, if the person who was solicited by, or who agreed to engage in or engaged in any act of prostitution with, the person who committed that crime was a minor at the time of the offense. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 1805 (Skinner): Medi-Cal: Reimbursement: Provider Payments
Current law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, prohibit the application of those reductions for payments to providers for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011.
Outcome: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2016 (Campos): Pupil Instruction: Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention
Would require the State Board of Education, based upon the recommendations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to consider including age-appropriate content for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention in the next revision of the health content standards. This bill contains other related provisions.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2029 (Cooley): Inquests: Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood
Would define "sudden unexplained death in childhood" as the sudden death of a child one year of age or older but under 18 years of age that is unexplained by the history of the child and for which a thorough postmortem examination fails to demonstrate an adequate cause of death. This bill would require the coroner to notify the parent or responsible adult of a child within that definition about the importance of taking tissue samples. This bill would also exempt the coroner from liability for damages in a civil action for any act or omission done in compliance with these provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: VETOED (see AB 2029 Governor's Veto Message)
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2054 (Olsen): Motorized Skateboards
Would authorize an electrically motorized skateboard to be propelled in a bicycle lane or on a bikeway or bicycle path or trail if it has an electric motor with a power output of not more than 1,000 watts that is incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than 20 miles per hour on ground level, and meets other criteria, as specified. The bill would authorize a local government authority to adopt rules and regulations by ordinance or resolution prohibiting or restricting persons from propelling an electrically motorized skateboard in a bicycle lane or on a bikeway or bicycle path or trail.
Outcome: Held in Assembly Transportation Committee
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2127 (Cooley): Interscholastic Sports: Full-Contact Football Practices: Concussion and Head Injuries
Would express legislative findings and declarations relating to head injuries sustained by high school pupil-athletes, particularly those who play football. The bill would prohibit high school and middle school football teams of school districts, charter schools, or private schools that elect to offer an athletic program from conducting more than 2 full-contact practices, as defined, per week during the preseason and regular season, as defined. The bill would also prohibit the full-contact portion of a practice from exceeding 90 minutes in any single day, and completely prohibit full-contact practice during the off-season, as defined.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2187 (Cooley): County’s Children’s Trust Funds
Current law requires a county treasurer to transmit moneys collected from birth certificate fees that are for the county children's trust fund and that are collected with respect to the birth certificate of a child whose mother was a resident of another county at the time of the birth to the treasurer of the county of the mother's residence at the time of the birth if the county to receive the funds, among other things, does not have a licensed health facility that provides maternity services within its jurisdiction. This bill would delete the requirement that the county to receive the funds does not have a licensed health facility that provides maternity services within its jurisdiction, as specified .
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2328 (Perez): California AmeriCorps
Would establish California AmeriCorps in the state government, to be administered by California Volunteers and operate under the existing federal AmeriCorps program guidelines. This bill would require that California AmeriCorps members be determined through an application process for eligible college graduates with student loan debt, as specified.
Outcome: VETOED (see AB 2328 Governor's Veto Message)
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2386 (Mullin): Care Facilities: Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Would require community care facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, residential care facilities for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness, and day care centers and family day care homes to have one or more functioning carbon monoxide detectors that meet specified statutory requirements in the facility and would require the State Department of Social Services to account for the presence of the detectors during inspections.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2391 (Calderon): Dependent Children: Placement
Current law requires that, subsequent to a specified hearing on the proper disposition to be made of the child, whenever a new placement of the child must be made, consideration for placement to again be given to relatives who have not been found to be unsuitable and who will fulfill the child's reunification or permanent plan requirements. This bill would require the county social worker and the court, when determining whether placement with a relative is appropriate, to consider the above-described factors on a case-by-case basis.
Outcome: Held in Senate Judiciary
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
AB 2560 (Bonilla): Teacher Credentialing: Applications: Child Abuse Reporting
Would require the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, as part of its standards and procedures for the issuance or renewal of teaching or services credentials, to require an initial or renewal applicant who submits an initial or renewal application for his or her credential online, or an initial applicant who submits an application in paper form, to read and attest by signature a statement that is substantially in a specified form that the applicant understands the duties imposed on a holder of a teaching credential or a services credential by the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, as provided.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
ACR 155 (Bocanegra): Childhood Brain Development: Adverse Experiences: Toxic Stress
This measure would urge the Governor to identify evidence-based solutions to reduce children's exposure to adverse childhood experiences, address the impacts of those experiences, and invest in preventive health care and mental health and wellness interventions.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 473 (Block): Human Trafficking
Would add human trafficking as an offense that may be used to establish a pattern of criminal gang activity. Because this bill would amend Proposition 21, the bill requires a 2/3 vote. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: VETOED (see SB 473 Governor's Veto Message)
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 837 (Steinberg): Early Childhood Education: Professional Development
Would, of the moneys appropriated in the Budget Act of 2014, allocate certain of those moneys for purposes of professional development stipends, to be administered by local planning councils, for teachers in transitional kindergarten and teachers in the California state preschool program, as provided. By imposing a new duty on a local planning council, the bill would create a state-mandated local program
Outcome: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 899 (Mitchell): CalWORKs: Eligibility
Current law, for purposes of determining a family's maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs program, the number of needy persons in the same family is not increased for any child born into a family that has received aid under the CalWORKs program continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth of the child, with specified exceptions. This bill would repeal that exclusion for purposes of determining the family's maximum aid payment and would expressly prohibit the denial of aid or denial of an increase in the maximum aid payment if a child, on whose behalf aid or an increase in aid is being requested, was born into an applicant's or recipient's family while the applicant's or recipient's family was receiving aid under the CalWORKs program.
Outcome: Held on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 909 (Pavley): Dependent Children: Health Screenings
Would permit , in the absence of a standing court order, a social worker to authorize a noninvasive initial medical, dental, and mental health screening of a child in temporary custody. The bill would require the social worker to make reasonable attempts to notify the parent that the child will be undergoing a screening and to provide the parent with a reasonable opportunity to object. The bill would provide that if the parent objects, the screening may be conducted only upon the order of the court.
Outcome: Held on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1005 (Lara): Health Care Coverage: Immigration Status
Would create the California Health Exchange Program for All Californians within state government and would require that the program be governed by the executive board that governs the California Health Benefit Exchange. The bill would specify the duties of the board relative to the program and would require the board to, by January 1, 2016, facilitate the enrollment into qualified health plans of individuals who are not eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal coverage and would have been eligible to purchase coverage through the Exchange but for their immigration status.
Outcome: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1023 (Liu): Community Colleges: Foster Youth
Would authorize the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to enter into agreements with up to 10 community college districts to provide additional funds for services in support of postsecondary education for foster youth. This bill contains other related provisions.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1123 (Liu): Child Care and Development Services
Would require the Superintendent to develop standards for the implementation of high-quality early learning and educational support programs. The bill would also include parent education and support and continuity of care and the assignment of primary caregivers for infants and toddlers , among other things, of quality indicators. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Outcome: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1165 (Mitchell): Pupil Instruction: Sexual Abuse and Sex Trafficking Prevention Education
Current law requires the Instructional Quality Commission, during the next revision of the publication "Health Framework for California Public Schools," to consider developing, and recommending for adoption by the State Board of Education, a distinct category on mental health, as specified. This bill would require the commission to consider including a distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education, as specified, when the health framework is next revised after January 1, 2015. This bill contains other related provisions and other current laws.
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1189 (Liu): Personal Income Tax: Credit: Earned Income
Would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2026, allow a credit based upon earned income that is equal to 15% of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to report to the Legislature regarding the utilization of the tax credit, as provided. This bill contains other related provisions.
Outcome: Held on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
SB 1207 (Wolk): California Voluntary Contribution Program
Would modify the existing voluntary check-off system by establishing the California Voluntary Contribution Program to be administered by the office of California Volunteers to expand the contribution options for a taxpayer. The bill would provide that the purpose of the program is to promote charitable giving and collect through the personal income tax return individual taxpayers' voluntary contributions either to specified charities in a pool of up to 200 qualified applicants, defined to include any charitable organization meeting certain requirements or a state or local agency, or to make a general charitable gift by donating to the Charitable Giving Fund.
Outcome: Held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File
Position: CAP CENTER SUPPORT
Significant CAP Center-Sponsored Legislation that Became Law in Previous California Legislative Sessions
SB 1668 (Bowen) amends section 11174.32 of the Penal Code relating to Child Death Review Teams. The law was proposed by PCA CA in order to further the effective work of these county-level teams.
The law requires each Child Death Review Team to provide the public with its findings, conclusions, and recommendations, including aggregate statistical data on the incidences and causes of child deaths, on an annual basis.
We believe that SB 1668 continues to be a positive step for Child Death Review Teams, primarily because it raises the profile of these teams and the issue of child death. SB 1668 also has significance because it was the first PCA CA sponsored bill to be signed into law.
2007 Shaken Baby Prevention SB 468/825 (Padilla)
Through the State Child Death Review Committee and a grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a Prevent Team was formed to research Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention efforts in the United States. This team, including Sheila Anderson, CEO of PCA CA traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to meet with some of the top researchers in the field on two separate occasions. This team concluded that the Dias model, a hospital based prevention program would be the most appropriate way for California to work in preventing these tragic cases. SB 468 was written to create a pilot program in up to 10 California counties to test the Dias model in our state. The bill would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to establish the program and evaluate its effectiveness over three years. Funding for the pilot program (approximately $500,0 00 per year) would be taken from the State Children’s Trust Fund, which had a surplus of funds when the bill was introduced.
PCA CA worked with CDSS on a series of amendments that would provide the Department with more flexibility and added specific language to allow for private funds to be used in addition to the Trust Fund. PCA CA and CDSS came to agreement in August 2007, just days prior to the deadline for bills to move out of fiscal committees. SB 468 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, in part because, the agreed upon amendments did not go to print.
Shaken Baby Syndrome was given new life again in 2008 when Senator Padilla once again authored a near identical bill, SB 825. Using the agreed upon language, SB 825 hit the ground running in 2008 with quick passage through the Senate. Unfortunately, It met the same demise as the previous year when it was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee due to the State Budget concerns.
