Proposed legislation in 2018
Updated: 3/7/18
Following are summaries taken from the digest (abstract) sections of these bills, and NOT actual bill language. The underlined bill number is a link that ties to an online version of the full bill. Any bill marked “SPOT” is a placeholder only and has no detailed language at this time.
Following are summaries taken from the digest (abstract) sections of these bills, and NOT actual bill language. The underlined bill number is a link that ties to an online version of the full bill. Any bill marked “SPOT” is a placeholder only and has no detailed language at this time.
SB-1320 Stern |
Elder or dependent adult abuse: victim confidentiality. (Safe at Home Program) Existing law authorizes victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purpose of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant’s residence address contained in any public record and otherwise provide for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. Any person who makes a false statement in an application is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would make this program available to a victim of elder or dependent adult abuse and would make related conforming changes. By expanding the scope of the program to include victims of elder or dependent abuse, this bill would impose new duties on local public officials and expand the scope of an existing crime |
Senate-In Committee Process-Judiciary |
SB-1464 Wiener |
Oral health: elder and dependent adults. SPOT |
Senate-Pending Referral |
SCR-78 Jackson |
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This measure would acknowledge that there is a continued need for the State of California to protect the human rights of women and girls and to analyze the operations of state departments, policies, and programs to identify discrimination and, if identified, to remedy that discrimination. The measure would support the implementation of the principles underlying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women |
Secretary of State-Chaptered |
AB-550 Reyes |
AB 550, as amended, Reyes. State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program: funding. Existing law, as part of the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, under the direction of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, in the California Department of Aging. Existing law provides for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program under which funds are allocated to local ombudsman programs to assist elderly persons in long-term health care facilities and residential care facilities by, among other things, investigating and seeking to resolve complaints against these facilities. Existing law requires the department to allocate federal and state funds for local ombudsman programs according to a specified distribution, but prohibits the department from allocating less than $35,000 per fiscal year, except in areas with fewer than 10 facilities and fewer than 500 beds. This bill would increase the base allocation for local ombudsman programs to $100,000 per year in any year in which funds are made available for allocation, as specified. |
Senate-Pending Referral |
AB-1914 Flora |
Presence at community care facility: conviction of crimes. The California Community Care Facilities Act, among other things, prohibits the State Department of Social Services from authorizing individuals who have been convicted of certain crimes from working or otherwise being present at a community care facility, as defined. The act requires the department to perform criminal background investigations of individuals as part of its licensing and regulatory oversight of these facilities. This bill would enumerate additional crimes that prohibit the department from authorizing an individual from working or otherwise being present at a community care facility, including, among other crimes, the willful and unlawful use of personal identifying information, as specified. (adds persons convicted of identity theft). |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Human Services |
AB-1934 Jones-Sawyer |
Dependent persons: offenses. Existing law makes it a crime for a person who is a caretaker, as defined, to commit certain sexual acts upon a dependent person. Existing law also makes it a crime for a caretaker to commit those acts upon a dependent person by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury. Existing law defines “dependent person” for those offenses as, in part, a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially restricts his or her ability to carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights, including, but not limited to, persons who have physical or developmental disabilities or whose physical or mental abilities have significantly diminished because of age.This bill would specify that a person is a “dependent person” under the definition described above irrespective of whether the person lives independently. |
Assembly-In Floor Process-Consent |
AB-1946 Cervantes |
Crimes: elder or dependent adult abuse. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
AB-1953 Wood |
Skilled nursing facilities: disclosure of interests in business providing services. (1) Existing law requires each applicant for a license to operate a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility to disclose to the State Department of Public Health, among other things, the names and addresses of any person or organization, or both, having an ownership or control interest of 5% or more in a management company that operates, or is proposed to operate, the facility. A failure to disclose this information is a basis for an action to revoke or deny a license. Existing law requires these disclosures to be available to the public, as specified, and further requires a licensee to update these disclosures to the state department within 30 calendar days of a change. This bill would require similar disclosures by an applicant for a license to operate a skilled nursing facility or by a skilled nursing facility licensee relating to an ownership or control interest of 5% or more in a corporation, sole proprietorship, or partnership, that provides, or is proposed to provide, any service to the skilled nursing facility. The bill would specifically require the applicant or licensee to disclose the number of individuals who are intended to provide that service at the skilled nursing facility and any other information requested by the department. By expanding the required disclosures by a licensee of a health care facility, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Health |
AB-1955 Limón |
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia: public awareness campaign. Existing law requires the CA Dept. of Aging to make efforts to increase public awareness about areas of importance to California’s older individuals, their families, and other caregivers. Existing law requires the department to establish an Aging Information and Education Fund, from funds made available pursuant to the annual Budget Act, to implement public awareness of various issues, including at least medication management, elder abuse prevention, and a toll-free line for linkage to local service networks. This bill would require the department to develop and implement a public awareness campaign, as specified, to reduce stigma and raise public awareness of the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in order to promote early detection and accurate diagnosis. The bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Aging and Long Term Care |
Reporting Crimes. Existing law requires specified health practitioners who have knowledge of or observe a patient who the practitioner knows or reasonably suspects has suffered from a wound or injury inflicted by specified types of conduct to report to a law enforcement agency, as specified. A violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would extend those reporting duties to emergency medical technicians and paramedics, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Public Safety |
|
AB-1985 Ting |
Hate crimes: law enforcement policies. Existing law defines a “hate crime” as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including, among other things, race, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop guidelines for instruction and training of law enforcement officers addressing hate crimes. Existing law requires state law enforcement agencies to adopt a framework or other formal policy on hate crimes created by POST. This bill would clarify that a disability is protected under the law regardless of whether it is temporary, permanent, congenital, or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness. The bill would also require any local law enforcement agency that adopts a hate crime policy to include, among other things, the model policy framework developed by POST and information regarding bias motivation. |
Assembly-In Floor Process-Consent |
AB-2021 Steinorth |
Solicitations: do not contact list. Existing law regulates telephone solicitations by telephone solicitors, as defined, and specifies those representations by a telephone solicitor to a prospective purchaser that constitute a telephone solicitation for purposes of this law. The law prohibits, with certain exceptions, a telephone solicitor from calling any California telephone number, to, among other things, seek to offer a prize; to rent, sell, exchange, promote, gift, or lease any goods or services; to offer or solicit credit; to seek certain marketing information; or to seek to sell or promote any investment, insurance, or financial services. This bill would require the Attorney General to maintain a California specific “do not contact” list, updated no less frequently than quarterly, that sets forth the telephone numbers or physical mail addresses or both of telephone subscribers or mail recipients or both, who do not wish to receive unsolicited and unwanted telephone solicitation calls or physical mail or both from solicitors, as described. The bill would require the “do not contact” list to include any California telephone numbers that are on the “do not call” registry established and maintained by the Federal Trade Commission. The bill would prohibit, with certain exceptions, a solicitor, as defined, from calling a telephone number or sending mail to a physical mail address on the “do not contact” list, beginning on the 31st day after this list becomes available to solicitors. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Privacy and Consumer Protection |
AB-2025 Maienscheine |
Facilities for the elderly. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
Residential care facilities for the elderly. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
|
AB-2140 Maienschein |
Home health agencies: waiver program: nurses. Existing law requires a private or public organization to obtain a license from the State Department of Public Health before providing, or arranging for the provision of, skilled nursing services in the home. Existing law requires that applicants for certification as a home health aide complete a training program and obtain a criminal record clearance. This bill would require the department, on or before March 1, 2019, to begin collaborating with stakeholders to create a waiver program, as specified, to permit home health agencies to obtain a waiver of the one year prior professional nursing requirements imposed by the department in regulation. The bill would require the department to implement the program on or before January 1, 2020. The bill would require the waiver, if granted, to apply to all registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses employed by the home health agency. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Health |
AB-2158 Voepel |
Alzheimer’s Day Care Resource Center Program. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
AB-2159 Chu |
Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
AB-2233 Kalra |
Medi-Cal: Assisted Living Waiver program. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Services to develop a federal waiver program to test the efficacy of providing an assisted living benefit to beneficiaries under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires that the benefit include, but not be limited to, the care and supervision activities specified for residential care facilities for the elderly. Existing law requires implementation of the program only to the extent federal financial participation is available and funds are appropriated or otherwise available for the program. This bill would require the department to submit to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services a request for renewal of the Assisted Living Waiver program with specified amendments. The bill would require, as part of the amendments, additional slots, as specified, in the 15 counties where the waiver program is currently in operation. The waiver amendments would also require the department to expand the program on a statewide basis, as specified. The waiver amendments would, among other things, authorize assessments to be conducted by trained individuals, visits to be conducted on an as-needed and quarterly basis, and the provision of certain accommodations to account for the needs of dementia care residents. The bill would also require the department to authorize eligibility for share-of-cost Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and to modify its provider reimbursement tier, as specified, while also maintaining the waiver program’s budget-neutral provisions. The bill would condition implementation of the waiver amendments on obtaining the necessary federal approvals and on the availability of federal financial participation. The bill would require implementation of the waiver amendments to commence within 6 months of the department’s receipt of authorization for the necessary resources, as specified. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Health |
Elder or dependent adult abuse: public shaming. (CLTCOA Sponsor) This bill would also include in the definition of “abuse of an elder or a dependent adult” public shaming, which the bill would define as the taking, transmission, or dissemination of an image of an elder or dependent adult that shames, degrades, humiliates, or otherwise harms the personal dignity of the elder or dependent adult. The bill would also make it a misdemeanor for a mandated reporter to fail to report public shaming of an elder or dependent adult. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also make it a misdemeanor to, under those same conditions, publicly shame, as defined, an elder or dependent adult. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Aging and Long Term Care |
|
AB-2430 Arambula |
Medi-Cal: program for aged and disabled persons. This bill would extend, upon receipt of federal approval, eligibility for the Medi-Cal Aged and Disabled Person’s program to persons with incomes at or below 138% FPL, after taking all other disregards, deductions, and exclusions into account for those aged and disabled individuals. The bill would provide that until federal approval is granted, eligibility for the Aged and Disabled Person Medi-Cal program will be based on countable income that does not exceed an income level equal to 100% of the applicable federal poverty level, plus an income disregard of $230 for an individual, or $310 in the case of a couple. For the purposes of calculating countable income under these preliminary provisions, an income exemption shall be applied as necessary to adjust the SSI/SSP payment level as used in this section so that it is the same as the SSI/SSP payment level that was in place on May 1, 2009. |
Assembly-In Committee Process-Health |
AB-2642 Levine |
Guardianship and conservatorship. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
AB-2719 Irwin |
Aging. (Cultural/social education re: LGBTQ status) Existing law requires the California Department of Aging to administer the federal Older Americans Act in and the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, and imposes various functions and duties on the department with respect to the administration and development of programs for older individuals. Existing law requires the department, in allocating specified state and federal funding to older individuals, to ensure that priority consideration is given to elderly individuals identified as in greatest economic or social need. Existing law defines “greatest social need” for purposes of the act to mean the need caused by noneconomic factors, that include physical and mental disabilities, language barriers, cultural or social isolation, including that caused by racial and ethnic status, that restrict an individual’s ability to perform normal daily tasks or that threaten his or her capacity to live independently. This bill would revise this definition to include cultural or social isolation caused by sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
AB-2850 Rubio |
Nurse assistant training programs: geriatric medication technician. Existing law requires skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities to adopt certified nurse assistant training programs approved by the department. This bill would include a geriatric medication technician, defined as a nurse assistant who has been certified as successfully completing medication administration training with a geriatric focus, within the category of “certified nurse assistant” for these purposes. |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
Aging. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
|
AB-3088 Chu |
Seniors: assisted living facilities: advance notice of closure. SPOT |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
AB-3200 Kalra |
Public social services: SSI/SSP. Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient, with an annual cost-of-living adjustment, effective January 1 of each year. Existing law prohibits, for each calendar year, commencing with the 2011 calendar year, any cost-of-living adjustment from being made to the maximum benefit payment unless otherwise specified by statute, except for the pass along of any cost-of-living increase in the federal SSI benefits. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP. This bill would reinstate the cost-of-living adjustment beginning January 1 of the 2019 calendar year. The bill would also require a maximum aid payment provided to an individual or a married couple that does not equal or exceed 100% of the 2018 federal poverty level to be increased to an amount that equals 100% of the federal poverty level. By reinstating the cost-of-living adjustment and by increasing the amount of benefits paid under the SSP, this bill would make an appropriation. |
Assembly-Pending Referral |
SB-1026 Jackson |
Seniors: fall prevention. SPOT |
Senate-In Committee Process-Rules |
SB-1040 Dodd |
In-home supportive services: natural disaster resulting in a state of emergency. The California Emergency Services Act authorizes the Governor to declare a state of emergency under specified conditions and requires a county, including a city and county, to update its emergency plan to address, among other things, how the access and functional needs population, as defined, is served by emergency communications, evacuation, and sheltering. This bill would expand the definition of “supportive services” to include all needs and services required during a natural disaster resulting in a declared state of emergency, and authorize, under those same circumstances, a county to allocate additional hours of In-Home Supportive Services, as specified. The bill would require a county to use a “void and reissue” warrant process for any provider who lost or had damaged an uncashed warrant because of a natural disaster resulting in a state of emergency. The bill would require a county at the next update to its emergency plan, to integrate and require the assessment and provision of supportive services to IHSS recipients. |
Senate-In Committee Process-Human Services |
SB-1152 Hernandez |
Hospital patient discharge process: homeless patients. Existing law prohibits specified health facilities from causing the transfer of homeless patients from one county to another county for the purpose of receiving supportive services from a social service agency, health care service provider, or nonprofit social service agency within the other county, without prior notice and authorization. This bill would require those health facilities to include within the hospital discharge policy, a written homeless patient discharge planning policy and process, as specified. The bill would require the health facilities to develop a written plan for coordinating services and referrals for homeless patients including procedures for homeless patient discharge referrals, designated liaisons at each participating entity, and coordination protocols. |
Senate-In Committee Process-Health |
SB-1191 Hueso |
Crimes: elder and dependent adult abuse: investigations. Existing law makes it a crime for a person entrusted with the care or custody of any elder or dependent adult to willfully cause him or her to be injured or permit him or her to be placed in a situation in which his or her person or health is endangered. Existing law also authorizes county adult protective services agencies and local long-term care ombudsman programs to investigate elder and dependent adult abuse, but grants law enforcement agencies the exclusive responsibility for criminal investigations. This bill would require local law enforcement agencies, as defined, and adult protective services agencies and long-term care ombudsman programs to revise or include in their policy manuals, as defined, specified information regarding elder and dependent adult abuse. |
Senate-In Committee Process-Public Safety |
SB 1288 Leyva |
Health and Care Facilities: inspections Existing law requires that every health facility for which a license or special permit has been issued be periodically inspected by the State Department of Public Health, or by another governmental entity under contract with the department. Existing law requires the department to inspect for compliance with provisions of state law and regulations during a state periodic inspection, or at the same time as a federal periodic inspection. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations governing the operation of a health facility, including, but not limited to, regulations that require prescribed health facilities to meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, and to assign additional staff according to a documented patient classification system for determining nursing care requirements. Violation of these provisions, or willful or repeated violation of the rules or regulations, is a crime. This bill would require state periodic inspections of health facilities to include reviews of compliance with the nurse-to-patient ratios and staff assignment regulations described above. The bill would require the department to ensure that these inspections are not announced in advance of the date of inspection. Existing law requires the department to promulgate regulations establishing criteria to assess an administrative penalty against a general acute care hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, or special hospital. Until the effective date of specified regulations, existing law authorizes the department to assess the licensee an administrative penalty not to exceed $100,000, as specified, when a licensee of a hospital receives a notice of deficiency constituting an immediate jeopardy to the health or safety of a patient and is required to submit a plan of correction. After the effective date of these specified regulations, existing law authorizes the department to assess administrative penalties not to exceed $125,000, as specified. This bill would repeal the obsolete provisions that authorize the assessment of administrative penalties not to exceed $100,000 until specified regulations are adopted. The bill, notwithstanding the latter administrative penalty provisions described above, would require the department to assess specified penalties not to exceed $125,000 for violations of the nurse-to-patient ratios and staff assignment regulations described above and would specify that a violation of these regulations is not a crime. This bill would also make technical and conforming changes. |
Senate-In Committee process-Health |
SB-1292 Hueso |
Alzheimer’s disease. SPOT |
Senate-In Committee Process-Rules |
Bills Passed in 2017
Assembly Bills |
Titles/Topic |
Long-Term Care Facilities: Change of Status or Operation of the Facility |
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Elder Abuse: Mandated Reporters and Power of Attorney |
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Long-Term Health Care Facilities: Notice of Transfer |
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Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse: Mandated Reporters; Substance Abuse Disorder Counselors |
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Senior Citizen Advocacy Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund |
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Aging and Disability Resource Connection Program |
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Senate Bills |
Titles/Topic |
Skilled Nursing and Intermediate Care Facilities: Training Programs |
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LGBT Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights |